Supreme Court pulls up CAQM: Failing duty… identify pollution causes, plan long-term solutions

“First of all, an expert body like CAQM should identify the reasons, and approximate attribution to them. There can’t be a mathematical attribution. You bring those reasons into the public domain. All those persons who are writing articles, filing applications, they will at least come to know these are the reasons. Then suggestions can be invited,” the CJI said.

The bench directed the CAQM to convene a meeting of experts in two weeks and bring on record a report based on their deliberations. The court said the exercise should be completed before the next date of hearing. It also asked the CAQM to start considering long-term solutions, to be introduced in a phased manner.

On December 17, hearing a plea by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which claimed that traffic congestion at toll plazas run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were contributing to air pollution, the SC had sought the CAQM’s views. The court had asked the NHAI and MCD to consider either temporarily closing or relocating the toll plazas to ease traffic congestion.

On Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the CAQM, sought two more months to come out with a comprehensive solution.

Bhati said a meeting was held with representatives of the Delhi government, NHAI, Gurugram Municipal Development Authority and MCD to deliberate on the issue. “We are requesting that issues regarding collection and utilisation of Environmental Compensation Charge (ECC), toll operations on NHs, traffic congestion at border entry points, technical integration of toll collection systems and inter-agency coordination are complex and interlinked. Therefore, we have requested for a period of two months,” Bhati said.

“By holding a meeting on January 2 and telling us that now we will come after two months, that is not acceptable to us. Then CAQM is failing in performing its duty,” the CJI said.

“Instead of bringing any concrete plan or proposal for some visible long-term remedial measures, CAQM has given a status report which unfortunately is silent on most of the issues raised by this court…CAQM appears to be in no hurry either in identifying the definite causes of worsening AQI or their long-term solution,” the court observed, adding that the “CAQM ought to realise that inordinate delay in finding out solutions will lead to further complications”.

“It’s very easy to say issues are inter-linked and very complex. Issues are complex because there are competing claims. NHAI says remove toll plazas, MCD says cannot remove them because these are a source of revenue, etc,” the CJI said.

He said while heavy vehicles like trucks and buses, as well as constructions, appeared to be significant contributors, addressing these have their own “complexities”. “Every cause has another complexity. For example, it’s very easy to say heavy trucks are responsible. But can you afford to stop the trucks and buses? How will the common man travel? What about day-to-day supplies? So therefore, when we are speaking of a long-term plan, if we stop one, what is the alternative? So those alternatives need to be equally strong or better… and should be able to meet future needs as well,” he said.

The CJI also said the city needs housing, and a blanket ban on construction as a knee-jerk reaction may not be a prudent step, unless there are cost-effective alternatives.

He said that while stubble burning has been blamed, that’s not the reality. “During Covid pandemic, there was maximum stubble burning, because there were no labourers and farmers had no choice. That is what government data says, and that is the only period when people in Delhi would see the blue sky,” he said.

Senior Advocate Aparajitha Singh said she had suggested that the CAQM make its expert reports and affidavit public as the matter is of public interest.

“We should all candidly acknowledge that earlier reports and everything… those were proved to be ineffective. Therefore, there’s nothing great in now collating them or bringing them in public domain. A weapon was sought to be evolved, but that failed to respond. Despite all those reports, all those efforts, the problem is aggravating,” the CJI said.

Singh said a 2022 report by CAQM already speaks about the causes, based on an IIT-Delhi study.

The CJI, however, said different reports attribute different percentages for each cause, and the CAQM should bring all experts together and find a united solution.

Bhati said a fresh study has been commissioned to identify the causes and the report would be submitted to the court.