Supreme Court seeks Centre, states’ smog plan

New Delhi: Responding with urgency to a plea related to Delhi’s toxic air, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and the state governments of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab to give details on steps being taken to fight pollution in the city and assured the petitioner that it will deal with the issue and find a long-term solution.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked the Centre and the state governments to file their responses on a petition plea filed by lawyer R.K. Kapoor who claimed that a rise in dust particles on roads and stubble burning in Delhi’s neighbouring states had led to an alarming rise in pollution levels in the city and its adjoining areas.

Earlier, when Mr Kapoor raised the issue for an early hearing, the bench said,  “We cannot ignore the pollution” and heard his plea on Monday itself after finishing the listed matters. The bench, which also included Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said that there won’t be any stay on matters pertaining to pollution which are pending before other courts.

On Monday, city schools reopened after a four-day forced closure due to toxic air and the Delhi government moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking modification of its November 11 order refusing to exempt women and two wheelers from the odd-even car rationing scheme to tackle pollution.

Another bench hearing a separate matter about pollution, said that the air situation in the smog-hit city was virtually like an “emergency”.

The bench of Justices M.B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta rapped the court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on pollution for its Delhi-centric report and sought a comprehensive report giving solutions to deal with the problem at the national level.