SC not to relax restrictions unless AQI improves
Even as the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR marginally improved to ‘poor’ category, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to relax the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) IV restrictions put in place to deal with the situation.
While hearing the issue of violations of GRAP-IV measures and safety of lawyers working as court commissioners to oversee monitoring of compliance, a Bench led by Justice AS Oka made it clear that the GRAP-IV measures will remain in effect until a consistent downward trend in the AQI was observed.
After perusing reports submitted by court commissioners, the Bench – which also included Justice AG Masih – said it would take a call on the relaxations proposed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on December 5, if the AQI data showed a consistent downward trend.
In Delhi, the 24-hour average AQI stood at 280 at 4 pm on Monday which was an improvement of 5 points over the previous day.
Pulling up authorities for poor implementation of GRAP-IV measures, the top court directed the CAQM to hold a meeting and provide suggestions regarding transition from GRAP-IV to GRAP-III or GRAP-II.
It was not necessary to dispense with all GRAP-IV measures and that a combination of measures from GRAP-IV and GRAP-III can be put in place, the Bench said. It asked states to file affidavits showing compliance of its directions.
Expressing anguish at NCR states’ failure to pay subsistence allowance to labourers out of work due to the ban on construction activities in view of GRAP-IV measures to tackle air pollution in NCR, the Bench asked chief secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to appear before it through video-conferencing at 3.30 pm on December 5. “Only if we summon the top officers, the ball will start rolling,” it said.
As some of the court commissioners complained of threat, the top court directed the Delhi Police to provide armed protection to those who wished to continue as court commissioners to monitor implementation of GRAP-IV measures.
“We make it clear that it is the responsibility of Delhi Police to ensure that members of the Bar who are acting as court commissioners are adequately protected”, it said.
Appreciating the work done by lawyers working as court commissioners, the Bench said it can’t allow members of the Bar to be subjected to risks and threats and asked the Delhi Police to file an action taken report.
The direction to the Delhi Police came after court commissioners and advocates Aditya Prasad, Savi Nagpal, Jatin Kumar and Manan Verma said that toll officials were sharing live updates on WhatsApp groups regarding movements of court commissioners.
“They are putting themselves at risk. It is not safe for them to go and directly confront the people”, Amicus Curiae Aparajita Singh told the Bench highlighting the risks faced by court commissioners.
Noting that it’s the constitutional duty of all the states to ensure that citizens lived in a pollution-free environment, the Supreme Court had on November 18 directed the Delhi-NCR states to immediately constitute teams to enforce the GRAP-IV restrictions.
The GRAP is a set of anti-air pollution measures followed in the capital and its vicinity according to the severity of the situation. It classifies the air quality in the Delhi-NCR under four different stages: Stage 1 - 'poor' (AQI 201-300), Stage 2 - 'very poor' (AQI 301-400), Stage 3 - 'severe' (AQI 401-450) and Stage 4 - 'severe plus' (AQI above 450).
On November 22, it had expressed dissatisfaction over poor implementation of GRAP-IV measures as out of 113 entry points to Delhi, monitoring was being done only at 13 major points. It had appointed 13 lawyers as court commissioners to monitor and report compliance.
