Need to stop stubble burning, court tells states
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a slew of directions to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to stop stubble burning, a major contributor to air pollution.
“We cannot have another gas chamber situation,” the high court said as it asked the Centre, Delhi government and the local authorities here to inform it about the latest position with regard to the steps taken for solid waste management and disposal.
The order on burning of crop residue was passed by the court as this practice starts from the month of October and continues up to January, during which the air quality of these states and especially of Delhi deteriorates. The court was hearing a petition initiated by it in 2015 for addressing the issue of poor air quality in the national capital.
“Considering the facts on record and the submission of the parties, and given that the Kharif crop is to be harvested, there is strong likelihood that the burning of agricultural residue will be resorted to in this season as well,” the court said.
“The effects of such practice can again be traumatic for most people and catastrophic for some,” it said directing the four states to “strictly” implement “in letter and spirit” the notifications issued by their respective governments under the Air Pollution Act banning such activity.
It also directed the local authorities of each state and Delhi to strictly implement the Graded Response Action Plan notified by the Centre in January this year for combating air pollution in the national capital region. Under the plan air quality has been graded into emergency, severe, very poor and moderate poor categories and, depending upon the grading, remedial measures like odd-even car rationing and ban on construction have been suggested.
The bench ordered the Centre to monitor sites where agricultural waste is burnt by tracking them through satellites.