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.
