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The Supreme Court on Friday chastised the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) — the pollution watchdog for Delhi and adjoining areas — blaming it for not doing enough to combat the annual bad air crisis that plunges the city into a public health emergency.
The latest status report presented by CAQM to the court showed that between September 18 and 25, Punjab reported 93 incidents of paddy residue burning as against eight during the corresponding period last year, with Amritsar district alone accounting for 58 incidents. (ANI)
A bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka, which called for a more proactive approach to combat stubble-burning in Delhi’s neighbouring states, was visibly upset over orders passed by the panel failing to translate into action on ground as the figures from Punjab and Haryana over the past week showed a spurt in farm fires compared to last year.
“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,” said the bench, also comprising Augustine George Masih.
With the CAQM chairman Rajesh Verma attending the hearing virtually, the court wondered what work was being done by the three subcommittees constituted under the CAQM Act, 2021. On being told that the panel meets at least once every three months, the court bluntly told 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 said that thought Act empowers the commission to launch criminal prosecution against officials, close polluting units and direct compensation for not complying with its orders, no action is being taken.
“Can you say for the three years that this commission exists, 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 asked.
The court was referring to Section 14 of the Act, which makes any contravention of provisions or of any order issued by the commission to be an offence punishable with up to a five-year imprisonment, or a fine up to ₹1 crore, or both.
Justice Masih, who is from Punjab, shared his input that equipment for removing the paddy stubble is not readily available to farmers. This raises doubts over the claim by the Centre that machines and financial aid for purchase of stubble removing equipment has made its way to the farmers, he said.
“We would like to know from the committee of the meetings held by the subcommittees 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 bench said.
The latest status report presented by CAQM to the court showed that between September 18 and 25, Punjab reported 93 incidents of paddy residue burning as against eight during the corresponding period last year, with Amritsar district alone accounting for 58 incidents. Similarly, the past week figures for Haryana registered 70 farm fires against 13 last year.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati said this spurt was sudden and meetings by CAQM with district heads in Punjab and Haryana brought down the total incidents to five on Thursday.
She also said that the geography of Delhi is such that during this time, the direction of winds that blow towards Delhi spike the pollution levels.
But the court asked: “Every year we face this problem of stubble burning. Is it coming down or increasing? You have power to order 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. “They cannot be saying our orders are not being followed. It is time officers are held responsible,” Singh said.
The note supplied by CAQM showed that, this year (till September 25), the commission imposed environment compensation (EC) charge worth ₹90,000 in Punjab and ₹75,000 in Haryana against some defaulting farmers. ASG Bhati said that, till date, no action under Section 14 — which provides for action against officer of a government or person in charge of company found violating CAQM’s directions — had been initiated over stubble-burning since this is considered a “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. It suggested that the committee should co-opt senior IPS officers into its subcommittees for the 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.”
In December 2023, when the court last dealt with the issue, the bench expressed hope that the winter of 2024 would be “better”, and stressed the need for constant judicial monitoring.
Delhi’s air is bad through the year due to a variety of reasons — road dust, construction dust, vehicular emissions, and biomass (garbage) burning. But it plunges into the “severe” zone of the Air Quality Index (over 300) when winter sets in and wind speeds reduce at the ground level, trapping pollutants. But it is exacerbated by farmers, mostly in Punjab, setting fire to stubble to clear their fields post-harvest for the next crop.
The public health emergency that this prolonged spell of noxious air leads to is the national capital’s biggest annual scourge — and authorities do little in terms of preparation to mitigate the problem in non-crisis months, and last-minute emergency actions in the winter fall woefully short.
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