NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to comply with the directions issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
Asking all the states concerned to file compliance reports by Wednesday, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said if the states do not implement the directions, “we will set up a task force for implementation of measures to reduce air pollution”.
Slating the hearing for Thursday, the bench said, “We want to give an opportunity to state governments to comply with the directions. They are directed to comply forthwith and file replies before Wednesday evening. States must implement all measures in 48 hours.”
The top court also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to respond to the issue of dust pollution caused by ongoing construction of Central Vista, raised by senior advocate Vikas Singh on behalf of petitioner Aditya Dubey. “Central Vista can’t be more important than the rising levels of air pollution. I can play videos, how dust is coming up from Central Vista. It cannot be more important than Supreme Court orders,” Vikas Singh said even as Mehta said, “This is just trumpet-blowing.”
Earlier, when the Solicitor General said the AQI was 405 today, the CJI corrected him and said it was 419. The court expressed serious concern over increasing air pollution. “The Centre says it is taking steps, but the pollution levels are increasing. And there is a looming danger of coronavirus. What to do?”
“We can deal with the virus separately,” Mehta responded. After issuing directions and advisories, the authorities hoped that all would be good, but on the ground the result was zero, the bench noted. Senior advocate AM Singhvi appearing for Delhi government told the bench, “We have disbursed Rs 147 crore for construction workers and provided 5,000 CNG buses to the workers to travel to Central Delhi.”