SC on pollution: ‘Why are people in this gas chamber… better to finish them with explosives’

Citing Constitutional provisions on the right to life, the bench said the compensation should be borne by the entire official machinery. It also asked all states to apprise it of steps being taken to tackle air and water pollution, and disposal of garbage.

The bench was hearing a plea on air pollution in Delhi-NCR due to stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The court also asked the Delhi government and CPCB to submit to it a comprehensive plan to set up smog towers in the national capital. It took exception to the submission that one such tower had been installed and was being tested on a pilot basis.

Justice Arun Mishra said such towers had already been proven in other countries and the authorities concerned should go ahead and install them in Delhi too.

On November 6, the court had directed that a compensation of Rs 100 per quintal be given as an incentive to paddy farmers who had not indulged in stubble burning.

On Monday, the bench, after perusing a status report, noted that the fires had gone up on some days and asked why this had happened despite its order.

“If you are not able to control your state, your official machinery, why should you not pay compensation to the people in tort,” the bench asked Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, and added “this is failure of the state machinery, whoever may be there.”

Singh tried to explain and said “we are monitoring daily”, but the court was not impressed.

The bench also pulled up Haryana Chief Secretary K A Arora and UP Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari over the increase in stubble burning incidents in their states. “This has been going on since long. Is this not worst than internal war? Why are people in this gas chamber? It’s better to finish them with explosives in one go instead of suffering for long…,” remarked Justice Mishra.

He added “nobody wants to do that (which) is not populist”, and told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CPCB, and the counsel for the states that “you people are not sitting with each other”.

The court also took exception to the role of farmers in stubble burning. “We have sympathy for them but let it not be misplaced… They cannot flout our orders,” Justice Gupta told a lawyer who appeared on behalf of the farmers.