Stubble fires choke Delhi-NCR, SC told

New Delhi: Stubble burning has commenced in a big way with impunity in Punjab and Haryana leading to further worsening of air quality levels in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.

A bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai, which is scheduled to hear the air pollution case on Wednesday, was urged by senior advocate Aprajita Singh, who is assisting the bench as an amicus curiae, that a response be sought from the governments of Punjab and Haryana. Singh referred to NASA satellite images to buttress her point that stubble burning in these two states has commenced and it is contributing to already severe air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR.

“The apex court orders are being flouted with impunity,” she said, adding that these states should respond to the present situation.

“We will pass some orders on Wednesday,” the CJI said.

Earlier on November 3, the top court directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to file an affidavit detailing the steps it has taken so far to prevent air pollution in Delhi-NCR from peaking further.

The bench, also comprising Justice K Vinod Chandran, was hearing the M C Mehta case and had said that the authorities must act proactively and not wait for pollution levels to reach a “severe” stage. Amicus curiae Singh had flagged media reports indicating that several air quality monitoring stations in Delhi were not functioning during the Diwali period.

“There are newspapers after newspapers saying that monitoring stations are non-functional. If the monitoring stations are not even functioning, we don’t even know when to implement GRAP (graded response action plan)... Out of 37 monitoring stations, only nine were functioning continuously on the day of Diwali,” she said.

The amicus urged the bench to ensure that CAQM submits clear data and an action plan.