Delhi Pollution: Environmentalists wary of 'directions issued', say expected more from SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court came down heavily on Centre as well as state governments, directing Delhi and NCR states to comply with the decisions which were taken at Tuesday’s meeting of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to curb air pollution in the national capital. However, environmentalists expressed concern over the delay in passing of the order by the Apex Court as the air quality of Delhi-NCR remains under the 'very poor' category.

While speaking over the matter, environmentalist Manu Singh said, "I find this rather strange as I was expecting a judgement on this by the Supreme Court because this situation is continuing and as per the SC it is because of the lacklustre and 'no response' attitude that is percolating down to the bureaucracy. This is happening rampantly throughout the country when the issues are relating to the environment."

Expressing concern over the prevailing situation of climate change, he asserted, "Every year we see floods in Mumbai, cloud bursting in Uttarakhand and Kerala. We are seeing that there is severe desertification of very fertile land, depletion of water resources, all these are interconnected predicaments as climate change is wreaking havoc throughout the country."

Singh further added, "In Delhi alone, several reports suggested that over 3.5 lakh people are killed due to air pollution and this has been augmented and intensified by the presence of a severe pandemic like Covid. With compromised immunity and affected lungs, we are dealing with a pandemic and we have to deal with pollution. At this point of time, if we are just issuing directions and advisories, nothing is going to come out of it."

The bench, which also comprised Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant, come down heavily on the bureaucracy, saying, "This is an unfortunate situation to which the bureaucracy has come down to. They say ‘we won’t do anything. Let the court pass directions and we will simply put signatures saying the court has directed it’... This is the attitude developed by the executive."

While the Delhi Government had suggested the implementation of Work From Home for offices, not just in Delhi but also in adjoining areas, the central government was not in favour of work-from-home for its employees.

When asked about it, Manu Singh replied, "We have to work in a team. We cannot have Delhi Government working on air pollution and adjoining states ignoring it. We need to look at not just the entire political system but also the socio-cultural system. Commission for Air Quality Management should conduct meetings every week if we want to find a way to curb air pollution."

In the directions by CAQM after Tuesday's meeting, it was stated that schools, colleges and educational institutions in the National Capital Region will remain closed until further orders, allowing only online mode of education. The commission also directed Delhi and the NCR states to stop construction and demolition activities in the region till November 21, barring railway services/railway stations, metro rail corporation services. Also, trucks carrying non-essential items have been banned from entering Delhi till Sunday.