‘Be more active’: SC raps CAQM on stubble burning as Delhi winter approaches | Latest News India

Tackling stubble burning requires a proactive approach by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the Supreme Court said on Friday as it was visibly upset over the orders passed by the panel failing to translate into action on ground.

Supreme Court of India. (PTI File Photo)

The latest figures from Punjab and Haryana over the past week showed a spike in stubble burning as compared to last year, raising alarms as yet another Delhi winter approaches. CAQM is the pollution watchdog for Delhi and adjoining areas –

“Though the CAQM has taken certain steps, the commission needs to be more active. It must ensure that its efforts and directions actually translate into reducing the problem of pollution,” the SC bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka said.

With the CAQM chairman Rajesh Verma attending the hearing via video conferencing, the court questioned the work that was being done by the three sub-committees constituted under the CAQM Act, 2021.

On being told that they meet at least once every three months, the court asked the chairman, “You are acting as silent spectators. If they are meeting once in three months, is it sufficient considering the situation that we are in?”

The bench, also comprising justice Augustine George Masih, noticed that the Act empowers the commission to launch criminal prosecution against officials, close polluting units and direct compensation for not complying with its orders.

“Can you say for the three years that this commission has existed, because of you, air quality is improving in Delhi? You have issued 82 directions to various states and authorities. What is the use of these orders if there is no enforcement or criminal action against officers,” the bench observed.

The court was referring to section 14 of the Act, which makes any contravention of the provisions of the Act, or any order or direction issued by the commission, to be a punishable offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to 5 years or fine extending up to ₹1 crore, or both.

One of the judges – justice Masih, who hails from Punjab – shared inputs that the farm equipment for removing the paddy stubble is not readily available to farmers. This raised doubts over the claim by the Centre that machines and financial aid for purchase of stubble removing equipment has reached farmers.

“We would like to know from the committee of the meetings held by the sub-committees and decisions taken by them, the equipment provided by Centre which are actually used by farmers, and other methods suggested by the commission to reduce stubble burning,” the court said.

The court’s observations became relevant as the latest status report presented by CAQM to court showed that between September 18 and 25, Punjab reported 93 incidents of stubble burning compared to 8 during the corresponding period last year, with Amritsar alone accounting for 58 incidents. Similarly, Haryana registered 70 farm fires in the past week as opposed to 13 last year, with Karnal and Kurukshetra reporting 31 and 16 incidents.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati explained that this spurt was sudden and back-to-back meetings by CAQM with district heads in Punjab and Haryana had brought down the total incidents to 5 on Thursday. Last year, she added, the paddy residue burning incidents reduced by 50% compared to 2021 when it had peaked to 78,550 with Punjab and Haryana being the major contributors followed by small-scale farm fires in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

She explained that the geography of Delhi is such that during this time the direction of winds that blow towards Delhi spike the pollution levels. The court remarked, “Every year we face this problem of stubble burning. Is it coming down or increasing? You have the power to order the closure of polluting units. Have you taken any action under Section 14?”

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as amicus curiae, shared a note highlighting the various provisions of the Act that empower the commission to enforce its orders. She said that prior to CAQM, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority or EPCA was considered “toothless” but that is no longer the case with CAQM.

Singh said, “They cannot be saying our orders are not being followed. It is time officers are held responsible. Section 14 provides that the officer of government or person incharge of company found violating CAQM’s directions is deemed to be guilty. If this (stubble burning) is not stopped now, it will be impossible to stop it later.”

The note supplied by CAQM showed that this year (till September 25), the commission had imposed environment compensation (EC) charge worth ₹90,000 in Punjab and ₹75,000 in Haryana against the defaulting farmers. ASG Bhati said that till date, no action under Section 14 had been initiated over stubble burning as this is considered as the “last resort”.

“That should be the first thing you must do or else whatever direction you pass, there will be no implementation,” said the bench.

Favouring the closure of farm operations in the event of farm fires, the judges remarked, “If somebody is indulging in stubble burning and they keep paying compensation, the activity will still continue.”

The court suggested the committee to co-opt senior IPS officers into its sub-committees for effective implementation of the orders passed by it. “If your rules will take time to provide for this, we will exercise powers under Article 142 and get senior IPS officers or any other experts or senior officials to be part of the committee.”

The amicus suggested to the court that given the wide powers of CAQM to develop an effective platform to synergise efforts of all stakeholders to enforce the Act, the central pollution control board (CPCB) and other pollution control bodies in national capital region (NCR) and adjoining areas, could be directed to tag the CAQM along with the concerned implementing authority while responding to a complaint on their social media page.

This would help CAQM monitor the response of the authorities. This way, the CAQM will also come to know of compliance by the concerned authority and the process would help in real-time monitoring for identifying roadblocks and fixing accountability of authorities for taking punitive action under Section 14.

The bench found the suggestion constructive and said, “It will be appropriate for all authorities to act on the same for reporting compliance on these aspects. The court agreed to consider this aspect separately on October 14.

In December 2023, when the court last dealt with the issue, the bench expressed the hope that the winter of 2024 would be “better” and stressed the need for constant judicial monitoring. With this purpose, on the court’s direction, a high-level committee headed by Cabinet Secretary with states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi on board, suggested a slew of alternate measures to ensure stubble is made commercially viable to dissuade farmers from burning it.

The high-level committee made an important recommendation for the states of Haryana and Punjab to disincentivize stubble burning by denying minimum support price (MSP) to farmers who indulge in such actions. It also sought to put in place mechanisms for making red entry in farm records for all cases of stubble burning and proposed the Department of Food and Public Distribution consider excluding farmers who resort to stubble burning from MSP operations.

Delhi’s air is usually bad due to a variety of reasons – surface dust, constructions, vehicular pollution, and biomass (garbage) burning. It enters the severe category in the Air Quality Index (over 300) when winter sets in, as winds cease, and farmers, mostly in Punjab, set fire to stubble to clear their fields post-harvest.

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