Shimla, May 7 (IANS): The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has allowed restricted movement of vehicles for three months across the Rohtang Pass near the picturesque tourist resort of Manali.

Each vehicle allowed to the Rohtang Pass for tourism purposes would pay an environmental cess at the rate of Rs.1,000 for petrol vehicles per visit. For diesel vehicles, the cess is Rs.2,500.

Earlier, tourist vehicles were banned from May 5 onwards.

"The number of vehicles allowed to go to Rohtang Pass for tourism purposes shall be restricted to 1,000 per day on a first-come-and-first-serve basis," said the NGT, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar.

Listing the matter for next hearing on May 25, the NGT said the ban on the tourist vehicles would be kept in abeyance till August 14.

Out of 1,000 vehicles, 600 would be petrol and the remaining diesel. All these vehicles would be subjected to pollution check, Justice Kumar said in an order posted on the NGT site on Thursday.

Issuing a statutory warning, it said if emissions are found to be beyond the permissible limits such vehicles will not be permitted to go to Rohtang Pass, some 52 km from Manali.

The NGT was categorical that the environmental compensation collected would be utilised only for the restoration of the local ecology and environment.

However, a vehicle which carries more than six passengers would be liable to pay a cess of Rs.5,000.

Pleading that the NGT order banning diesel vehicles would hit the livelihood of local taxi operators, the state had said the tourist season would commence on May 15 and its order be deferred on a short-term basis (three months).

In the meanwhile, said the NGT, the state would take all steps and may call a meeting of manufacturers and suppliers of vehicles for supplying CNG vehicles to ensure that there is least pollution in the eco-sensitive area.

It also directed the state to make arrangements and deploy appropriate staff en route Vashist to Rohtang Pass to ensure that there is no traffic congestion.

The NGT also asked the state to take up the issue of devising a methodology for providing BS-IV fuel (petrol and diesel which contain less sulphur) in the state with the oil ministry.

Excessive emission of carbon monoxide from the vehicles and huge quantities of trash left behind by tourists on the Rohtang Pass are taking a heavy toll on the snow cover, says the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), a Nagpur based institute that has carried out studies on the impact of pollution on the local ecology.

Its report said the Rohtang Pass, located in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas, was visited by 18,000 to 20,000 tourists every day, mainly between May and September.