On Thursday, the Apex Court pulled up the State Governments of Punjab & Haryana for collecting just nominal compensation from farmers burning paddy stubble, leading to poor air quality in Delhi, news agency PTI reported.
The apex court also slammed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for its failure to control to control stubble burning around Delhi & said the panel made no effort to implement its direction to prevent such incidents.
The Supreme Court observed that only five out of 11 members attended the body’s meeting convened on August 29 to discuss air pollution in Delhi and the apex court’s directions were “not even discussed”.
A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka & Justice Augustine George Masih also noted that CAQM has not launched a single prosecution against cases registered over stubble burning. The remarks came while the bench was perusing the compliance report filed by the CAQM.
The Court directed the Centre & CAQM to file affidavits within a week & posted the case for further hearing on October 16.
‘Total non-compliance’
During previous hearing on September 27 too, the Supreme Court slammed the CAQM for its failure to curb air pollution in the national capital & advised the body to be more active & exercise its power under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region & Adjoining Areas Act, 2021.
“There has been total non-compliance of the Act. Please show us a single direction issued to any stakeholder under the Act. We are of the view that though the commission has taken steps, it needs to be more active. The commission must ensure that its efforts & directions issued actually translate into reducing the problem of pollution,” the bench had said.
The court asked the CAQM to ensure that equipment provided by the Centre to help farmers manage paddy stubble is actually used on the ground. The Centre informed the court on the steps taken such as advisories & guidelines to control stubble burning. “It is all in the air, nothing has been shown regarding what has been done in the National Capital Region (NCR) states,” the bench hit back.
Ineffective boards
The court noted the lack of adequate staff on the state pollution control boards & wondered how the agencies would tackle pollution & stubble burning during the onset of winter. The sub-committee under CAQM on safeguarding & enforcement would also remain dysfunctional without adequate representation from the pollution control boards of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh, the bench noted. It directed the five NCR states to fill the vacant posts urgently, preferably before April 30, 2025.