NEW DELHI: Expressing serious concern over the worsening air quality in the national capital and adjoining states, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Delhi, UP, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan governments to file affidavits on the steps taken to control the pollution, including checking stubble-burning.
A bench of Justices SK Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted that there is no improvement in the air quality despite steps taken to combat pollution. It said the steps shown to control air pollution are only on paper.
Emphasising the steps taken to reduce pollution, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) submitted that there is a reduction of 40% in air pollution compared to the past two-three years, saying crop burning is a major contributing factor behind pollution.
Taking note of the status report of the commission, which was filed in compliance with the top court’s October 10 order, the bench said the report is comprehensive. It also sought an affidavit from states as suggested by senior advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae.
In the previous hearing, Singh highlighted the problem of air pollution in the run-up to Diwali and crop residue burning. “We call upon the states of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, and Delhi to file their affidavits within a week…Commission will also state before us in a tabular form the result for the relevant period which is when the problem starts,” the bench ordered.
According to data published by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday. According to a numerical model-based system developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, vehicular emissions (11 to 16%) and stubble burning (7 to 16%) currently stand as the two major contributors to the city’s air quality. It showed that pollution sources in Gautam Budh Nagar are responsible for up to 14% of the air pollution in the capital.
