New Delhi: The Supreme Court today (Apr 12, 2004) dismissed an application by Mumbai Bus Owners Association seeking extension of the January 31 deadline for conversion into CNG from diesel of over eight-year-old commercial vehicles numbering around 24,000.

A Bench comprising Justice Shivaraj V Patil and Justice D M Dharmadhikari dismissed the application leaving no option for the owners of these commercial vehicles but to convert them into CNG mode.

The High Court had fixed the deadline on a petition filed by Bombay Environment Action Group, which had alleged that the rising pollution in the commercial capital of the country could be controlled only through conversion of the old commercial vehicles from diesel to CNG mode.

It had cited the case of Delhi, where on the orders of the apex Court the entire city transport fleet of private and Government buses was converted into CNG mode.