The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it would will look into issues of pollution created by transport in Delhi, entries of heavy trucks in the city and open garbage burning after Diwali.
The top court also pulled up the Centre and governments of Haryana and Punjab for making environmental laws 'toothless'. It said that the Commission for Air Quality Management ( CAQM) Act provision on penalty for stubble burning is not being implemented. It added that if the governments were really interested in implementing the law, then there would have been at least one prosecution.
The apex court further said that the CAQM Act was enacted without creating required machinery for implementing law to curb air pollution.
Supreme Court told Chief Secretary of Punjab that around 1080 violators FIRs were registered, but the state had collected a nominal fine from only 473 people. "You are sparing 600 or more people. We will tell you very frankly that you are giving a signal to violators that nothing will be done against them. This has been for the past three years," the court said.
Delhi pollution
A thick layer of smog enveloped the national capital Wednesday morning as its air quality remained in the 'very poor' category with an overall AQI of 363, while more areas fell into the "severe" zone. The Jahangirpuri monitoring station registered a "severe" Air Quality Index at 418, while Vivek Vihar's reading was 407 and Anand Vihar's 402.
At 9 am, the AQI at Sonia Vihar was close to the "severe" category at 398, while Wazirpur recorded 396.
Overall, the city's AQI at 9 am was 363.
The city was covered in a thick layer of smog as almost all weather monitoring stations fell into the red zone, with more areas moving into the maroon zone of Central Pollution Control Board's color-coded warnings.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good,' 51 to 100 'satisfactory,' 101 to 200 'moderate,' 201 to 300 'poor,' 301 to 400 'very poor,' and 401 to 500 'severe.'
GRAP-II implementation
In light of the alarming air quality levels in the National Capital Region (NCR), authorities will implement Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan ( GRAP) starting at 8:00 AM on October 22, 2024. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced this decision after Delhi recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 312, marking the air quality as "Very Poor."
GRAP is a set of emergency protocols activated when pollution levels reach hazardous standards. Stage II is triggered when the AQI falls into the range of 301 to 400.
The top court also pulled up the Centre and governments of Haryana and Punjab for making environmental laws 'toothless'. It said that the Commission for Air Quality Management ( CAQM) Act provision on penalty for stubble burning is not being implemented. It added that if the governments were really interested in implementing the law, then there would have been at least one prosecution.
The apex court further said that the CAQM Act was enacted without creating required machinery for implementing law to curb air pollution.
Supreme Court told Chief Secretary of Punjab that around 1080 violators FIRs were registered, but the state had collected a nominal fine from only 473 people. "You are sparing 600 or more people. We will tell you very frankly that you are giving a signal to violators that nothing will be done against them. This has been for the past three years," the court said.
Delhi pollution
A thick layer of smog enveloped the national capital Wednesday morning as its air quality remained in the 'very poor' category with an overall AQI of 363, while more areas fell into the "severe" zone. The Jahangirpuri monitoring station registered a "severe" Air Quality Index at 418, while Vivek Vihar's reading was 407 and Anand Vihar's 402.
At 9 am, the AQI at Sonia Vihar was close to the "severe" category at 398, while Wazirpur recorded 396.
Overall, the city's AQI at 9 am was 363.
The city was covered in a thick layer of smog as almost all weather monitoring stations fell into the red zone, with more areas moving into the maroon zone of Central Pollution Control Board's color-coded warnings.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good,' 51 to 100 'satisfactory,' 101 to 200 'moderate,' 201 to 300 'poor,' 301 to 400 'very poor,' and 401 to 500 'severe.'
GRAP-II implementation
In light of the alarming air quality levels in the National Capital Region (NCR), authorities will implement Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan ( GRAP) starting at 8:00 AM on October 22, 2024. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced this decision after Delhi recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 312, marking the air quality as "Very Poor."
GRAP is a set of emergency protocols activated when pollution levels reach hazardous standards. Stage II is triggered when the AQI falls into the range of 301 to 400.
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