Supreme Court calls chief secretaries of 4 states over pollution

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday summoned the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to tell the court steps taken by them to bring down the air pollution in the national capital which is choked with an unprecedented level of pollution.

The top court bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta summoned the chief secretaries noticing the high level of air pollution in the national capital and what have been taken or could still be taken to bring down the pollution level.

The chief secretaries will submit report on the compliance of the order passed on November 6, 2019. The next hearing is on November 29.

The top court also questioned the rational of the ongoing Odd-Even restriction on the cars coupled with exemptions as Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) told the court that cars were contributing just 3 per cent to the total pollution in the national capital.

Telling the court that Odd-Even had no impact on the city’s pollution, CPCB said that two-wheelers were contributing 7 per cent pollution, three-wheelers 5 per cent, LCVs about 3 per cent and trucks alone were contributing 8 per cent.

As amicus curiae Aparajita Singh pointed to the prevailing climatic condition for deterioration of situation, the court asked “What we can do as humans” and this is what happens when we misuse nature.

Justice Mishra asked all present to focus on the instant solution of the problem instead of long-term solution which in any case would be carried out.

Saying that a robust public transport system was the only solution to deal with the menacing problem of air pollution, Justice Gupta cited overseas instances where Odd-Even was backed by free public transport.

As court said that 13 hotspots of pollution in Delhi had to be cleared of pollution, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Delhi government said Odd-Even did contribute in reducing the air pollution but the real culprit was stubble burning.