SC summons chief secys of 4 states

NEWDELHI: As toxic smog continues to shroud Delhi, the Supreme Court on Friday said that the vehicle rationing odd-even scheme may not be a permanent solution in tackling air pollution adding that it affected the middle and lower classes as ‘affluent classes’ had many cars.

The top court also summoned the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi to appear on November 25, observing that the governments of said states

› Delhi is suffering badly. The AQI inside the room is above 600 today. Outside the room, it is worse. How do people breathe?

have failed to take effective steps to curb pollution. The observation came on the last day of the 15-day odd-day scheme in Delhi.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has put off till Monday the decision whether or not to extend the scheme.

› Why cannot we have a clean Delhi? Evergreen and ever clean? Let steps be taken to reduce pollution and let the hot spots be cleared of pollutants.

“How do people breathe?”, the Supreme Court remarked on Friday while expressing concern over rising pollution level in Delhi-ncr and summoned the chief secretaries of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to apprise it about the steps taken to deal with the problem.

Delhi is “suffering badly” due to the pollution level and “drastic” and effective steps are required by the authorities to reduce it, the apex court observed.

“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 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 Delhi government on the exemptions given, including to two and threewheelers, during odd-even scheme and said it is a “halfbaked 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. 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.

“If exemptions are removed, it might reduce more. There are large number of two-wheelers in the city and if we stop them (during odd-even scheme), the whole city will collapse,” he said, adding, “The real culprit is stubble burning”.

The bench, however, said that stubble burning contributes to around 44 per cent of the total pollution here while the remaining 56 per cent comes from Delhi itself.

When Rohatgi referred to data to buttress his arguments that during odd-even days pollution has reduced, the bench said, “It was virtually the same without odd-even also”.

On the issue of stubble burning, the bench said that despite its order, the practice was continuing in Haryana, Punjab and in western Uttar Pradesh.

Stubble burning in Punjab has decreased while it has increased in Haryana, it said. “Why is this happening? We have to call the chief secretaries. Why this burning is taking place? It is shocking,” the bench said.