SC presses for mechanised dust sweeping
New Delhi: Even as the Delhi government and petitioners insisted on measures needed to reduce pollution from stubble burning, the Supreme Court on Wednesday continued to press for how authorities are controlling dust and other emissions on the roads with the help of mechanised sweepers and water sprinklers.
While technically, the municipal corporations of Delhi are responsible for hiring these vehicles and ensuring they are manned, the Delhi government is also responsible for enabling the funds required for them to do so.
In the Monday hearing before the Supreme Court, the Delhi government had informed the court that the city had 69 sweeping machines, to which the top court had repeatedly asked whether these many were enough to cover the entire NCR area. On Wednesday, the bench of the CJI followed up on this and asked how many more machines had been purchased for the city.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the Delhi government, said that 15 more machines had been ordered as per the request received from the civic bodies and that the city government has written to corporations asking if they need more. He said if they say they want more, the Delhi government will approve it.
The bench, however, said, "We are not impressed or inclined to go into these figures. Enough is enough. We can't go into all this, how many machines are required, etc."
The MCDs, however, are aware of the top court's interest in sweeping machines and water sprinklers and are rushing to have all available resources into maximising these activities.
Significantly, after the Monday hearing, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the NCR and adjoining areas also directed authorities here to enhance water sprinkling activities and even use fire trucks for this purpose if required.
The Delhi government on Wednesday disclosed that 372 water tankers are currently deployed in the city for water sprinkling, adding that from now, fire trucks will also be engaged in these activities. "Machines of the fire brigade will sprinkle water at 13 pollution hotspots in Delhi in addition to the 372 tankers already deployed in the city for this purpose, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said.
