New Delhi— The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that large-scale stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana has intensified, worsening the already hazardous air quality in Delhi-NCR. Senior advocate Aprajita Singh, appearing as amicus curiae, presented the matter before a bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai, which is scheduled to hear the air pollution case on Wednesday.
Singh cited NASA satellite images to demonstrate that stubble burning had begun “in a big way” and was contributing significantly to Delhi’s smog. She alleged that the orders of the apex court were being flouted with impunity and urged the court to seek a formal response from both state governments.
“The apex court orders are being flouted with impunity. These states must respond to the present situation,” Singh told the bench. Chief Justice Gavai responded briefly, saying, “We will pass some orders on Wednesday.”
Earlier, on November 3, the Supreme Court directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to file an affidavit outlining the measures it has taken to curb pollution levels in the capital and its surrounding regions. The bench, which also includes Justice K Vinod Chandran, is hearing the long-pending MC Mehta case on air pollution.
The court emphasized that authorities must act proactively instead of waiting for the Air Quality Index (AQI) to hit the “severe” category before enforcing restrictions.
During the previous hearing, Singh also drew attention to reports that several air quality monitoring stations were non-functional during Diwali, undermining the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
“There are newspapers after newspapers saying monitoring stations are non-functional. If the monitoring stations are not even functioning, we don’t even know when to implement GRAP. Out of 37 stations, only nine were working continuously on Diwali,” she said.
The court’s upcoming session on Wednesday is expected to result in fresh directives to the governments of Punjab and Haryana, as well as to the CAQM, to ensure strict enforcement of pollution control measures amid rising public health concerns in the Delhi-NCR region.
