Supreme Court on Air Pollution: ‘Crop residue burning has to be stopped’
“Farm fires must stop. The decline must go on during the Diwali holidays.” the court said. The matter has been posted for November 21.
In a significant move on November 10, the Supreme Court mandated the cessation of crop residue burning in Punjab and neighbouring states around Delhi, emphasizing the need to address the escalating pollution levels in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“Farm fires must stop. The decline must go on during the Diwali holidays.” the court said. The matter has been posted for November 21.
During a hearing regarding the severe air pollution crisis in Delhi-NCR, a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul expressed concern over the lack of tangible progress despite numerous reports and committees addressing the pollution issue.
The bench, which also includes Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, emphasized the court's eagerness to witness effective results.
Assurances were provided to the Supreme Court that every possible effort is being exerted to bring farm fires, a significant contributor to the problem, under control.
This directive comes as part of the court's consideration of a plea filed in 1985 by environmentalist M C Mehta, highlighting concerns about air pollution. The matter of crop residue burning surfaced during the ongoing proceedings related to the plea.
The Cabinet Secretary will continue to monitor progress on the matter.
Odd-Even
Further, the Supreme Court also said it had not asked the Delhi government to have odd even on taxis and said: “What you have to do, you do. If odd-even has minimal effect, you do. You have to take a call or else you will say pollution is due to SC order.”
The Court said DPCC has complied with the order on making the smog tower at CP operational and dispensed with the personal presence of the DPCC Chairman.
Delhi AQI
Several parts of Delhi-NCR received light rainfall on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, bringing a much-needed respite from the increased air pollution in the national capital. This came amid the Delhi government's ongoing efforts to implement the idea of 'artificial rain' through cloud seeding which will be attempted around November 20 to curtail the pollution situation in the city.
The overall air quality has again slipped into the ‘severe’ category despite light rainfall in the capital city. The national capital's AQI stood at 407 at 6 am on Friday, as per the data by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Currently, Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been implemented in the national capital after the city's air quality plummeted to the 'severe plus' category.