New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana on Wednesday expressed its displeasure over no concrete decisions taken in the Centre's meeting on the issue of air pollution and slammed the bureaucracy for leaving everything to the court. The court adjourned the matter till November 23 but warned the Centre of not letting its guard down just because it has not passed any directions in the matter.
The bench, also comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Justice Surya Kant, was hearing a plea related to air pollution in Delhi-NCR region which has been filed by environmental activist Aditya Dubey and law student Aman Banka.
CJI Ramana said that he has observed that the bureaucracy has developed "inertia" and does not want to take any decision, leaving it to the court to do everything. "Over a period of time what I am observing, as a judge and an Advocate General also that the bureaucracy, completely, I think has developed some sort of inertia. They don't want to take a decision. How to stop a car, seize a vehicle, how to stop a fire has to be done by this court. Everything we have to do. This is an attitude developed by the Executive. Very unfortunate," CJI said.
During the previous hearing of the matter, the court had directed the Centre to call for emergency meeting with Haryana, Punjab and UP chief secretaries to discuss emergent or drastic measures that can be taken to control the pollution for some days.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre submitted before the court that in the meeting of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR, it was suggested that industries having gas connection should only run on gas and others be closed, only 5 out of 11 thermal power plants in 300 km radius be allowed, entry of trucks and construction should be banned till November 21, diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old should not ply on roads, anti smog guns to be installed, dust suppression work should be carried out at least four times in a day, heavy penalty should be imposed on offenders, uninterrupted power supply should be ensured, Work from Home should be encouraged and all educational institutions shall be closed.
However, the central government expressed its unwillingness before the Supreme Court to ask its employees to work from home and instead it has advised its employees in the national capital to resort to carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles used by them for commuting.
Delhi government submitted that it is ready to shut down activities, limit vehicles, allow work from home but only when the neighbouring NCR areas also issue the same directions because Delhi gets a lot of traffic and air pollution from the nearby NCR areas. It said that holistic approach would be needed to solve the issue.
Talking about the measures suggested in the meeting yesterday, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Delhi government, submitted before the court that 90% of it is already done by Delhi. Raising the issue of stubble burning, he said that it might not be the major problem but it is a problem which shall be addressed.
Suggesting usage of bio decomposers by the farmers, Singhvi submitted that it clears the stubble and rejuvenates the soil.
Justice Surya Kant took an exception to this argument and said that in what circumstances would a farmer be able to purchase this machine, nobody tries to find and is concerned about. "People here in Delhi sitting in 5-star,7-star facilities accusing farmers...have you seen their situation? Can they afford it? You go with an alternative, they will definitely adopt it," said Justice Kant. Further, he slammed the states saying that every October and November the court is bound to take up this matter and don't know what the Centre and states do for the entire year.
"By the time the court's orders are implemented the fire is only out and we are back in hunky dory," Adv Singhvi said.
Court also asked about mechanical sweeper machines which are currently 69 in numbers. "Whatever number demanded by the municipal Corporation, the Delhi government will give support and release funds for it. It has presently approved purchase of 15 more sweeper machines," Adv Singhvi said.
Read: Delhi-NCR continues to breathe toxic air: Who's to blame?
On shutting down of essential activities in Delhi's affidavit, Court enquired if it could be done to which Adv Singhvi said 'yes' but that the other states would also need to cooperate. On the issue of transportation, the court suggested that instead of just enforcing Delhi should also take some positive steps that can have positive impact on ground.
Adv Singhvi submitted that frequency of buses and metros can be increased but new buses cannot be bought right now as it would require tenders and that would take longer.
Haryana government submitted before the court that 90% of suggestions has been implemented by it and the rest will also be done.
Punjab informed the court that for stubble burning it constituted 1,003 teams, 2705 villages were visited, 419 events of stubble burning were seen and 161 were extinguished.
Court asked on what happened to the stubble that was stopped from burning. Punjab did not answer clearly to which court lashed out and said that it has been left to the mercy of farmers.
Punjab further informed that it purchased 77,000 machines for stubble and 10,000 is in process. It said that this year the burning has decreased and the data showing otherwise is misleading. "Have we done enough? Certainly not but we are working," submitted Punjab. It also said that mentality of 40 years of burning will also have to be changed.
Read: Declare two-day lockdown to curb air pollution: SC to Delhi govt
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appearing for petitioner Aditya Dubey highlighted before the court that none of the norms in place for pollution in Delhi is being complied with due to which there is so much pollution. "If the vehicles are of BS6 then there is no question of pollution, if thermal power plants follow the AQI norms then there would be no problem," argued Singh.
He said that the stubble burning this season is the cause of 50% pollution at least and though marginal and small farmers can't afford machines big farmers certainly can and in Punjab there are all big farmers.
"Like summer vacation we will need November vacation," said Singh.
SC agreed with Adv Singh and said that his submissions made sense. "Construction and all takes place throughout the year. Why can't they ask the industries to install sophisticated machine which does not cause pollution....there is a lack of will," said the court.
SG Mehta said that there is a lack of exercise not will. Court suggested him to consider work from home option saying all categories of employees are not needed at offices and 50% of them can be asked to work from home.
