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Journalism of Courage
Delhi air pollution crisis: Exactly a year ago, in response to a direction, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that the members and the chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) possessed sufficient experience in the field of air pollution and environmental issues.
The Centre’s assurance was in response to the direction on October 3 last year given by a three-judge bench led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay Oka, which asked the Centre to “satisfy” them if the chairperson of CAQM, a statutory body established to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) and surrounding areas, had “requisite qualifications”.
The top court’s direction to the Centre, one among several issued to authorities last year, exemplified the effective use of its powers for the larger public good and curbing the invisible menace of air pollution.
What preceded and succeeded the direction to Centre was nothing short of a relentless pursuit to achieve better air quality for the people of Delhi-NCR. The process, crucially, yielded necessary state action.
For instance, the Environment Ministry appointed three members — two experts from non-governmental organisations and one stakeholder from the Agriculture sector — to the CAQM and informed the Supreme Court about it on October 24 last year.
The CAQM also listed monitoring and enforcement actions taken by the Punjab and Haryana governments to control farm fires. This included lodging hundreds of FIRs and imposing fines amounting to lakhs on offenders in Punjab between September 15 and October 20.
The development was a result of the top court criticising the Punjab and Haryana governments over non-prosecution of violators found guilty of stubble burning and summoned the state chief secretaries for an explanation.
The air pollution case, which has been pending in the top court, has been heard by different benches from time to time. The issue intensifies with the onset of winter, when air quality levels consistently drop.
Multiple factors, such as stubble burning, the onset of winter, and vehicular pollution, contribute to the rising Air Quality Index (AQI) levels.
The benches headed by Justice Oka passed several significant directions throughout this time last year and this year before his retirement.
Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is an emergency response mechanism for the entire NCR, based on Average AQI levels in Delhi that brings together multiple stakeholders, implementing agencies and authorities to respond to situations of deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR.
The top court monitored the implementation and enforcement of GRAP measures in the region, particularly Stage 3 (severe air quality) and Stage 4 (severe plus air quality) restrictions, dealing with curbs on construction, vehicular and industrial emissions, aside from the functioning of schools and offices.
Without mincing words, the top court called out the ineptness of the authorities and held them accountable for non-compliance.
In one such hearing, the court made it “clear that until further orders are passed by this court, implementation of Stage 4 will continue even if AQI level drops below 450”.
It relaxed the curbs when the situation improved.
Delhi fell in the ‘moderate’ category in the first week of December last year when the Supreme Court relaxed the restrictions, albeit with cautionary words to the CAQM: “We can understand you saying that all GRAP Stage IV will not be applicable, but you can’t go straight away out of GRAP.”
The court emphasised the necessity of banning firecrackers and stubble burning in NCR states and urged accountability from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi authorities for enforcing pollution control measures.
Underlining the “alarming” level of air pollution for a prolonged period, a Justice Oka-led bench refused to relax the ban imposed on the manufacture, storage and sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR on April 3.
It refused to be swayed by the ground of livelihood taken by firecracker manufacturers and sellers and extended the ban till December 2025. It said the ban was in a small part of the country.
Notably, the Supreme Court in a recent hearing indicated that it may allow the manufacture and sale of such crackers approved by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation in the region this Diwali.
On green crackers, the erstwhile bench had ruled out any relaxation “unless it is shown that the pollution caused by them is the bare minimum”.
On the day the Supreme Court relaxed the GRAP restrictions in December last year, it was apprised about the issue of garbage burning in the national capital.
“For instance, in Mundka, where there is open garbage burning, the AQI is 221. So, while crop burning is one issue, open garbage burning is happening in Delhi itself,” amicus curiae Aparajita Singh had said.
When the amicus pointed out “no specific protocol” about data on garbage burning, Justice Oka replied, “That protocol has to be there. This all happens because the 2016 rules are not being implemented.”
Later that month while dealing with the matter on Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, it underlined the generation of 3,000 tonnes of untreated municipal solid waste every day in Delhi and cautioned that if “illegal dumping” of solid waste continues, someday it will have to take a call to stop some kind of development activities in the city so the generation of solid waste can be controlled.”
By closely monitoring GRAP implementation, holding authorities accountable, and stressing inter-state cooperation, the top court set a robust mechanism to tackle the issue.
With the Delhi AQI breaching the ‘poor’ category on Tuesday, and the air quality level set to dip further in the coming weeks, it becomes necessary to embrace the Supreme Court’s blueprint from 2024.
