NGT slams civic bodies, govt; bans stubble burning

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday lambasted the Delhi government and municipal corporations over the toxic air quality in Delhi and neighbouring states.

Issuing various directions like banning construction and industrial activities and the entry of diesel trucks more than 10 years old, the green panel also said that no vehicle from outside or within Delhi would be permitted to transport any construction material.

The NGT told the authorities that holding meetings, writing letters and shifting responsibility from one to the other for non-performance could hardly be made an excuse for meeting “such a bad environmental emergency”. 

“You (officials) go to the hospital and see what kind of trouble people are facing. You kept playing with people’s life. Right to life has been infringed with impunity by the authorities and other stakeholders who have been mere spectators to such crisis,” the bench said.

The NGT also directed the authorities and the civic bodies to sprinkle water where PM 10 is found to be in excess of 600 micrograms per cubic metre.

It further directed the authorities to implement the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution Control Authority’s (EPCA) directions to improve ambient air quality while asking the civic bodies to constitute teams to ensure there is no burning of waste in Delhi-NCR.