The Supreme Court on Friday expressed satisfaction over the steps proposed by the Centre and the Delhi government to control air pollution and directed the authorities concerned to implement all those measures.
The apex court will continue to monitor the situation pertaining to toxic air in the national capital region and will hear the case next on December 10 for a review.
After a special bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana set a 24-hour deadline for the two governments to suggest serious steps that could be taken to arrest the annual problem of air pollution in Delhi NCR, the governments filed their affidavits with the recommendations.
The central government apprised the top court of increasing the number of flying squads to monitor the condition in not just Delhi but all of NCR. An Enforcement Task Force has been set up by the Commission of Air Quality Management which will have the powers to exercise punitive and preventive steps in cases of non-compliance.
A curb on industrial activity is directed where industries not using clean fuels will be allowed to work only for 8 hours on weekdays and not permitted to function over the weekends. Entry of only CNG-fuelled trucks or EV-compliant trucks to be allowed inside NCR.
State of Uttar Pradesh flagged a concern over the sugar industry highlighting that this being a sugarcane crushing season, allowing only an 8-hour work during the day may lead to severe losses to sugarcane farmers as the crop and its treatment are time-sensitive. With most of the sugar processing plants situated over 90 kilometres away from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh has sought restrictions-free work. The court, however, did not pass any order on this issue.
The Delhi government, while informing the court of the ban on construction activity, sought permission for construction work to be carried out for the 20 hospital facilities, citing the work as essential and urgent.
For the time being, the top court said, all the steps proposed by the governments and the Commission of Air Quality Management must be implemented.
In the meantime, the court has also urged the central government to look into the feasibility of shifting to alternative power-producing sources if the move away from thermal power plants has to be made without causing an impact on power supply.
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