How do people breathe, asks Supreme Court; summons chief secretaries
AQI inside room in Delhi above 600, Ggm struggles as it crosses 700 mark
NEW DELHI: Taking note of toxic air choking the national Capital, the Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the Delhi government over the delay in tackling pollution.
“Why cannot we have a clean Delhi? Evergreen and ever clean,” a bench of justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta said and directed the authorities to clear the 13 pollution hotspots in the national Capital within a week.
The top court observed that the odd-even vehicle scheme in Delhi has not been effective in reducing pollution level and the air quality index (AQI) has deteriorated further.
“Delhi is suffering badly. The AQI inside the room is above 600 today. Outside the room, it is worse. How do people breathe,” the bench said.
It questioned the Delhi government on the exemptions given; including to two and three-wheelers, during the odd-even scheme and said it is a “half-baked solution”.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ANS Nadkarni told the bench that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has found that odd-even has no effect on the pollution level in Delhi.
The bench asked the Delhi government to suggest steps which could be taken to reduce the pollution which has reached “severe level”.
While summoning the four chief secretaries for November 25, the bench said it requires their presence in the court so as to ascertain what steps they have taken to reduce pollution level as well as stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh respectively. It further added that authorities should discharge their duty in public trust so as to combat the problem of pollution. Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Delhi government, said as per study reports, the pollution level has reduced from 5-15 per cent during odd-even scheme. “The real culprit is stubble burning,” he added. The bench, however, maintained that stubble burning contributes to around 44 per cent of the total pollution here while the remaining 56 per cent comes from Delhi itself.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government will take a decision on the extension of the odd-even scheme on Monday.
Gurugram residents continued to struggle for clean air as the AQI docked at 703, which falls in the “severe plus” category on Friday morning, maintained System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
NEW DELHI: People with disabilities (PWD) and those aged above 80 will be able to cast their votes using postal ballots in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, the chief electoral officer said on Friday.
After the recent amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules by the law ministry, the Election Commission had notified that all citizens above 80 years of age and Pwdmarked voters in the electoral rolls will have the option of exercising their franchise either through postal ballots or by voting at their respective polling stations. Such voters will have to mark themselves in the category to avail the option, using the voter helpline application or by visiting the voter centres, Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi Ranbir Singh told reporters here.
In a first, people with disabilities and those above 80 years of age will be able to cast their votes using postal ballots in the five-phase Jharkhand Assembly polls, commencing from November 30.
According to Singh, the national capital currently has over 44,000 PWD voters.
Meanwhile, the Delhi poll panel has urged voters to check their names in the draft electoral rolls published on Friday and asked them to report errors to officials to ensure they can cast their vote in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh said the draft electoral roll has been published on Friday and till December 16, people can file their claims and objections, which will be taken up and disposed of by December 26.
“People can check their names in the electoral roll by visiting the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, voter helpline application etc. On November 23 and 24, there will be special camps held at all designated stations for the purpose,” he told reporters.
The final electoral roll will be published on January 6, 2020 and those who have turned 18 or will be turning 18 on or before January 1, 2020, can also get their names added in the voter list by filling Form-6, Singh said.
One can apply for correction in details through Form-8 and apply for deletion of multiple entries or in case of death of a family member, get their name deleted by filling Form7, he said.