You are letting people die:
AIR POLLUTION Apex court takes serious note of the pollution crisis, pulls up authorities for the lack of action in containing pollution
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its disappointment over lack of action by authorities in containing air pollution saying ‘nobody will be spared if found violating rules.’
“You just want to sit in your ivory towers and rule. You are not bothered and are letting the people die,” the top court said on the pollution crisis, reports PTI
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta took serious note of crop burning in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and said “Why can’t government machinery stop stubble burning? Stubble burning is not the solution. We expect more from democratic government of the country to deal with issue of stubble burning and curb pollution,” reports PTI.
A two-judge bench has summoned chief secretaries of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to explain their failure to curb stubble burning that is blamed for the toxic smog hanging over the region.
Justice Mishra asked the chief secretaries to make a plan for purchasing this stubble, make sure no burning takes place and to make the entire administration responsible.
“Can you permit people to die like this due to pollution? Can you permit the country to go back by 100 years. It is a question of life and death of crores of people. We have to make government responsible for this,” the court said on the toxic air pollut i on l evels i n Delhi NCR. “Nobody will be spared if found violating rules,” the apex court said.
Ai r p o l l u t i o n levels i n national capital Delhi and much of north India touched emergency levels on Wednesday with the Delhi government shutting down schools, ordering staggered timing in offices and initiating the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme.
The Supreme Court had on Monday panned the central and Delhi government machinery for passing the buck and not doing enough to take steps in time. “Delhi is choking every year and we are unable to do anything,” a bench of the Supreme Court said.
The bench, furious at the inability of the government to take adequate steps, put the hearing on hold and ordered the government to ensure the presence of an expert and member of the Environment Prevention and Control Authority in 30 minutes when it will take up the air pollution in Delhi again.
According to news agency ANI, Justice Mishra slammed the Punjab government and said, “Why was the government not ready in advance? It seems no steps are taken throughout the year.”
Attorney General KK Venugopal, representing the government, told the court that “200 thousand farmers cannot be controlled”. He suggested that Punjab and Haryana be divided into zones and each zone be allowed to burn stubble on specific days allotted to them.
“It seems that there is no coordination among the officers and the state government to deal with this situation. You cannot allow people to die. How many people will suffer from asthma, cancer and other diseases?” Justice Mishra said.
The court also slammed the Haryana government and asked it about the action it will take in four districts of the state where the stubble is burnt.
The court said that nobody would be spared if they are found violating the rules and regulations.