Delhi air pollution crisis: SC to take up plea on December 17

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up on December 17 a plea related to worsening air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR after amicus curiae Aparajita Singh complained of non-compliance with the protocols ordered to be put in place.

“We know the problem and let’s pass orders which can be complied with. There are some directions which can be forcibly imposed. In these urban metropolitan cities people have their own lifestyle. But the poor…,” a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant told Singh, who submitted that while preventive measures were in place, the key issue was poor implementation by authorities.

“This is coming up before a three-judge Bench on Wednesday. It will come up,” the CJI said.

Another lawyer raised the issue of children’s health, and said that despite the court’s earlier orders, schools were holding outdoor sports activities.

“Despite the order of this court, schools have found ways and means to conduct sporting activities. It is taking place. The CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management) is again citing the order of this court,” Singh told the Bench, adding the poor labourers were the worst affected.

Earlier, on December 1, the CJI had said, “The Delhi pollution matter cannot be listed customarily in the month of October, and rather it should be taken up regularly at least twice a month to find out short- and long-term solutions to the menace.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) AQI bulletin released on December 14 at 4 pm, Delhi recorded an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 461 over the last 24 hours.

As per CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

Noting that courts have no magic wand to deal with worsening air pollution in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court had on November 27 said it was for domain experts and scientists to find solutions to such problems.

As the region continues to battle poor or very poor air quality for weeks, CJI Kant on Sunday advised lawyers and litigants to use video conferencing facilities to virtually appear before the Supreme Court in their cases.

Presently, the top court functions in hybrid mode, conducting its proceedings through both physical and virtual modes.