Supreme Court is strict on stubble burning, said- we cannot let people die due to air pollution

On the increasing air pollution in NCR, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that there is a need for constant monitoring by the court to curb it so that the situation does not repeat in the winter next year. The situation should be better next year. Along with this, after looking at the statistics of incidents of stubble burning, the court said that a lot of stubble is still being burnt.

This must stop at all costs. These comments were made by a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia on Wednesday during the hearing of the air pollution case in NCR.

The court directed the state governments to take steps to curb pollution. The apex court perused the note and report presented by Attorney General R Venkataramani which stated that several meetings were held under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to curb air pollution in NCR.

An action plan has been prepared for Punjab and Haryana etc. The court has directed the states to implement the action plan and submit a report within two months. The court saw the affidavit filed by the Punjab government in which details of environmental compensation fees to be collected from farmers who burn stubble were given. The court said that according to this, only 53 per cent of the amount has been recovered so far. Recovery work should be expedited.

Punjab had said in the affidavit that the incidents of stubble burning had already reduced between September 15 and November 30. The court also took note of the note produced by the Attorney General, in which details of various meetings held under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary on the issue of stopping incidents of stubble burning were given.

The court said that in this regard, something needs to be done by Punjab, something by Haryana, something by Delhi and some other ministries. Amicus curiae Aparajita Singh referred to the affidavits filed by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh regarding incidents of garbage burning.

Told that in the affidavit of Uttar Pradesh, it has been said that it has already been reduced, whereas Delhi has also given details of the steps taken. He suggested seeking a report on this from the Air Pollution Management Commission. On this suggestion, the court asked the Air Pollution Management Commission to consider the issue.

In the case of coloured stickers according to the fuel used in vehicles, when a lawyer said that there should be a law on this, the court said that it is the responsibility of the states to implement the law. The court directed to put the case up for hearing again on February 27.