Implement orders to curb pollution, SC tells Centre, Delhi govt

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre and the states in NCR to implement the orders of the panel on air quality management to curb air pollution while ruing that some sections of the media have “portrayed” it as a “villain” which wants to close down schools here.

A special bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana also took note of measures taken by the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas on Thursday and asked the Centre, Delhi and states in the National Capital Region (NCR) to follow the directions.

In an affidavit, the commission told the bench, also comprising justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant, that a fivemember enforcement task force has been set up to contain air pollution in Delhi and NCR. Forty such squads would monitor the implementation of measures suggested by it to deal with

pollution, the panel said.

On Thursday, the top court pulled up the Delhi government for reopening schools on November 29, asking it to reconsider the decision in the wake of young children being exposed to bad air and toxic smog.