The Supreme Court has actively intervened in the air pollution crisis in Delhi and surrounding areas ever since 1984. In M C Mehta vs Union of India, the Court has been taking a proactive role till date. During this winter too, when the air pollution reached hazardous levels, a bench headed by Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka issued significant directions. The court appointed commissioners to ensure trucks with construction material do not pass through Delhi checkpoints. It criticised the Commission for Air Quality Management for its lethargic attitude in the timely implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan.
The plan includes, among other things, prohibition of construction activities and curtailment of other human activities. Even a situation closer to a lockdown is contemplated under the plan. The court deliberated on the closure of schools and the plight of children. Also, there were deliberations on stubble burning, vehicle density and use of firecrackers.
The continued effort of the Supreme Court in the case is commendable. Yet, it remains an area where the executive and its agencies will have to finally act. The Court can only prompt them to act with judicial persuasion. The stark reality is that the situation on the ground has hardly improved and the AQI remains at a dangerous level even in February this year.
The causes that made Delhi and the neighbouring areas uninhabitable are manyfold. They include road dust, vehicular emissions, tyre/brake wear and tear, urban solid waste, industrial and thermal plant emissions, stubble burning from neighbouring states, etc. The topography of Delhi and surrounding areas, coupled with meteorological factors like reduced temperature, low wind speed and lesser amount of rainfall, intensify the crisis.
It is erroneous to picture stubble burning as the main reason for Delhi’s tragedy. Studies show that the city generates 9,500 tonnes of waste every day, which is taken to nearby landfills ill-equipped to handle them. Very often, accumulative burning of the waste results in massive emission of perilous gases like methane, dioxin, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, etc. Also, there are cases of trash burning in the city. The specifications for operating landfills as given in the solid waste management rules are honoured only in their breach.
Studies also show that in Delhi, vehicular emissions and road dust mainly contribute to the pollution whereas in its surrounding areas––the National Capital Region––industrial pollution and stubble burning are the major causes. It is reported that the vehicle population in Delhi as per registration documents has increased from 3 million in 1998 to about 12 million in 2019. The figure now could be more staggering.
The right to life under Article 21 includes the right to a clean environment, as repeatedly asserted by the SC. The massive violation of fundamental rights, that too at the national capital, has motivated the court to intervene. Despite its persuasive role, the court also faces limitations in fighting the issue.
Environmental justice travels beyond judicial justice. It is essentially a matter where the public and their elected governments have a fundamental role to play.
There are global models that demonstrate a successful fight against air pollution. A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlights the enormous progress the action plan at Beijing achieved. According to the report, “China has become a leader in electric transit, owning 99 percent of the world’s 3,85,000 electric buses, a figure that is expected to swell to 6,00,000 by 2025.” Steps like enhancing budgetary allocations for curbing air pollution, regulating industries, encouraging people to walk or use bicycles to cover short distances, etc. were taken.
The report said by the end of 2017, there was a 35 percent drop in the annual PM 2.5 concentration in Beijing, an over 93 percent drop from 1998 in the concentration of sulphur dioxide and a further 38 percent drop in nitrous dioxide. UNEP, in another report, also praised efforts in cities like Paris (France) Seoul (South Korea), New York City (USA), Bogota (Colombia) and Accra (Ghana). Many European cities also exemplify the success of their strategies for clean air.
The basic irony that we face in Delhi is the total insensitivity of the executive, both at the state and national level, in tackling the issue. They are in a perpetual blame game. Unlike other countries, the regime at Delhi does not have any idea about the problem, much less any masterplan to deal with it. A total lack of environmental statesmanship was alarmingly visible even during the eve of the assembly election.
In the recent Union budget, despite the provision for expenditure on clean energy, allocation for anti-pollution drives is negligible. No other country in the world would depend upon its Supreme Court to clean the air at its capital. Perhaps, no other Supreme Court in the world had to confront the executive for such a long time for the citizen’s right to oxygen.
It is not the court’s primary function to deal with issues like poverty, unemployment or illiteracy. There are limits to judicial review and the court, on its own, cannot administer the country. The Supreme Court has been acting on the issue under compulsion, given its authority to take forward the social action litigation in the context of massive violation of fundamental rights.
Siddharth Singh’s book, The Great Smog of India (2018), exposes the seriousness of the problem faced by Indian cities, with a substantial reference to Delhi. He says over a million Indians die every year due to air pollution. The complex issue of pollution, however, is not limited to air. Rivers, soil and almost all other habitats in the capital are intensely contaminated.
The primary victims of pollution are the poor and marginalised, who include rag pickers, street vendors, construction workers and other labourers. This crisis of the capital also reflects the crisis of our fundamentally flawed notions about growth and development. Unless we evolve a politics of ecology and survival, with due regard to the people’s plight, no amount of judicial activism is going to rescue us.
(Views are personal)
(kaleeswaramraj@gmail.com)
Kaleeswaram Raj | Lawyer, Supreme Court of India