Central and state governments must do their part on stubble burning issue, High Court says
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court is already doing its part to tackle stubble burning in neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana and now the Center and state governments must do their part, the Delhi High Court said Thursday.
The court made the observation while declining to hear a plea calling for immediate action to prevent stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana on the grounds that it would exacerbate problems related to COVID-19.
A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Judge Prateek Jalan said the higher court appointed a committee on Oct. 16 chaired by its former judge, Judge MB Lokur, to monitor measures taken by those states to prevent the burning of stubble.
The High Court added that if it too heard the same question, then there would be a risk that conflicting orders would be passed.
With the observation, the bench disposed of the request that was made by Sudhir Mishra, a lawyer, in its main argument filed in 2015 asking for instructions to the Center to take immediate action to control the increase in air pollution in the national capital.
The demand had argued that the thatch burning would dramatically increase air pollution in the nation’s capital and could further exacerbate health problems in the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The High Court, however, gave Mr. Mishra the freedom to approach him in the future if necessary or difficult.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma said the sun was not visible on Thursday and it was an emergency in the nation’s capital due to the poor air quality.
ASG also referred to a report that people who recovered from COVID were facing respiratory problems as air quality deteriorated in the National Capital Region and flocked to hospitals.
He said that, according to the press report, the situation arose because the lungs of people who recovered from COVID were severely damaged due to the infection.
The High Court said “it was up to the Union and the states to take action to address the issue of stubble burning and poor air quality.”
He added that “the Supreme Court was doing its part and now governments must do theirs.”
On October 16, the higher court appointed the committee to oversee measures taken by neighboring states to prevent stubble burning.
He also ordered the deployment of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS) and Bharat Scouts and Guides to assist in the surveillance of stubble burning in the agricultural fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR, saying it all. wants the people of Delhi-NCR to be able to breathe fresh air without any pollution.
The Supreme Court also ordered the court-appointed Environmental Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) and the chief secretaries of Delhi and the tri-state to assist the Lokur group in enabling physical monitoring of the fields where the stubble is burnt.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
