SC appoints ex-judge Lokur to oversee stubble burning curbs

Strap:Chief Secys of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Delhi to assist one-man panel

BQ: Want NCR to breathe easy

“This order is not an indictment of any agency… we are only concerned that people in Delhi-NCR must be able to breathe clean and fresh air.” SA Bobde, CJI

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Govt expresses reservations

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the SC that the government had reservations about the appointment of the Justice Lokur committee. The EPCA is already doing the job, he said.

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Panel to submit fortnightly reports

*Committee will visit affected states and submit fortnightly reports to SC

*Chief secretaries and EPCA to assist in physical surveillance of fields

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Paddy residue burnt last year

*Punjab produced 20 million tonnes I 9.8 million tonnes burnt by farmers

*Haryana produced 7 million tonnes I 1.23 million tonnes burnt by farmers

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 16

The Supreme Court on Friday appointed Justice Madan B Lokur (retd) as a one-man committee to monitor the measures taken by the states of Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi to prevent farmers from resorting to stubble burning that turns the entire NCR into a virtual gas chamber during October-November.

“It is necessary that there must be some monitoring of stubble burning with a view to its prevention before it assumes abnormal proportions,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said.

It directed chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi and the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) to assist the committee in physical surveillance of fields where stubble was likely to be burnt and to devise additional methods for preventing it.

“This order is not an indictment of any agency… we are only concerned that people in Delhi-NCR must be able to breathe clean and fresh air…. While the court is shut (for Dasehra), we don’t want anything to happen during these nine days,” the CJI said.

The committee is required to visit the affected states and submit fortnightly reports to the top court at the initial stages or “as and when found necessary”.

The Bench asked heads of National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides to provide young force to the panel for locating stubble burning and bringing it to the notice of the authorities concerned to prevent it.

The order came on a fresh petition filed by two students — Aditya Dubey and Aman Banka — who suggested that Justice Lokur could be assigned the task.

On behalf of Punjab, senior counsel PS Narasimha, and for Haryana, Additional Advocate General Anil Grover pointed out that several steps had been taken to check stubble burning, including developing an app to help identify the particular field in which someone has burnt stubble.