Air pollution in Delhi [LIVE UPDATES from Supreme Court]

A special bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a plea by 17-year-old Delhi student Aditya Dubey concerning rising levels of air pollution in the Capital.

The Top Court had earlier directed the Centre to take steps and Delhi government to file an affidavit in this regard.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant will hear the plea.

Live updates from the hearing below.

. Advocate Rahul Mehra for Delhi government: We had to file an affidavit.. the affidavit has come in the morning. I sincerely apologise.

CJI NV Ramana: Its all right.. lets see something can be done.

. Advocate Nikhil Jain: I had filed a plea last year..

Solicitor General: Please let me submit..

CJI Ramana: Mr. Mehta will just say he will file a report and take an adjournment.

Solicitor General: I am sure you said this in lighter vein.

. CJI Ramana: We have been forced to wear masks at home also, the situation is very serious.

Solicitor General: I am screen sharing a short summary here which includes steps taken by everyone.

. CJI Ramana: Yes, please screen share.

. Solicitor General Mehta screen shares update status: Points towards agricultural management... There is in situ crop residue management, ex situ crop residue management.

There is stubble burning in Punjab, the results we see here. Punjab needs to buckle up. Not adversarial.

. CJI Ramana: You are making it as if farmers are responsible for this. What about steps taken to contain the pollution in Delhi or steps like emission controls etc.?

Solicitor General: You know the repercussion of this statement.

CJI Ramana: You started with crop management etc.

. CJI Ramana: For clarity sake, we are concerned with which government. The question is how to control this burning situation within two or three or four days.

Solicitor General: Please allow me a little further to show you.. its not remotely suggesting that farmers are only responsible.

. Solicitor General: The statement has its own effects. (returns to the slides)

Justice Chandrachud: In so far as the farmers, the problem is not enforcement but of incentivization. If you make the incentives then why won't a farmer switch? You cannot enforce these things.

. Justice Surya Kant: You are saying lakhs of machines are available but the farmers cannot afford these machines. After the landholding law the incentive for the farmers have increased. In winters the stubble can be used for fodder for goats etc. in Rajasthan.

. Justice Chandrachud: The question is not of availability of machines ( mutes his mic and speaks to other judges ).

. CJI Ramana: Yes, Mr. Mehta.

Solicitor General: These 2 lakh machines which is made available at 80% subsidised rate.

Justice Kant: Can the officials point out to the actual price after subsidy? I am a farmer, The CJI is also from a farmer family, we know it.

. Solicitor General: Its given through cooperative societies free of cost.

Supreme Court: How many such societies there? What is the capital cost and what is the subsidy?

. Solicitor General: This free of cost is for marginal farmers and not for big landholders.

Supreme Court: If you take the stubble from farmers free of cost and supply it to industries then farmers won't have to pay anything.

. Justice Chandrachud: Give us figures of some sample districts.

Solicitor General takes the bench to the note being screen shared: Focusses on the PUSA Bio Decomposer and its application status across states.

. Supreme Court: What will be the total capital cost for these machines? How much are talking about? What is the outlay required?

Solicitor General: Okay, I have noted this... please look at PUSA bio decomposer... this in in situ and in the farm. Its planned in 10 lakh acres in UP, 4,000 acres of Delhi.

. Solicitor General: It has been carried out in 6,65,000 acre of UP, 34,000 Acre in Haryana and over a lakh in Delhi. besides nurture farms..

Supreme Court: What is the total acreage in Haryana? You said total 2 lakh acres.. what is the acreage before kharif season.. how much does it cover?

. Supreme Court: What is the economic arrangement so that stubble is removed out?

Solicitor General: We are hiring agencies and monitoring it.. tenders have been issued.

Supreme Court: Where are these agencies at the ground level? How are these mechanisms helping in removing out the stubble?

. Justice Chandrachud: This is late monsoon and it has been late for farmers.. now they are in a hurry to sow seeds for kharif season for wheat in winter. Was any agency enrolled to remove the stubble in the gap of 15 days? Good to have this policy but how are you implementing it?

. Justice Chandrachud: How do we ensure that stubble is removed, in time and taken to thermal power plant and then economic remuneration to farmers?

Solicitor General: Please allow me time to submit an affidavit today and have this case on Monday. I received some charts today.

. Justice Kant: Answer the question of CJI.. how the 80% of pollution in Delhi is due to causes apart from stubble burning...

. Solicitor General: It is dust.. reads guidelines on road dust management and open dust mechanism policy. I will share this document with states and states may show effective implementation of this

Judges discuss.

. CJI Ramana: There are very serious objections... now some percentage of contribution is by stubble burning but other causes are industrial, vehicle pollution.

Tell us how immediately we can reduce AQI by 200 points... think of 2 days lockdown etc..

. Justice Chandrachud: Schools have been opened now and little children are on the roads and we are exposing them to this. Dr. Guleria said we are exposing them to pollution, pandemic and dengue.

. CJI Ramana: We dont know who placed this note before us... Air quality in Delhi is in severe category.... Delhi air quality will become severe and increase in surface wind may help.. another 2 to 3 days it will increase further. Take an emergency decision. We will look at long term later.

. Solicitor General: We are having this emergency meeting later today. I won't take something wrongly once you say this.

CJI Ramana: You have to look at this issue beyond politics and government.

Solicitor General: We realise its a matter of joint responsibility. We never said farmers are responsible.

. CJI Ramana: We said you started with agriculture.. and there are other reasons too. Something must happen so that in two to three days we feel better.

Solicitor General: As an officer of the court, there is a possibility of very severe becoming emergency.

CJI Ramana: What is Union's prediction?

. Solicitor General: Metrological department was consulted and it says due to the wind becoming in north east and due to some spurt in stubble burning.. Delhi air remaining static..

CJI Ramana: Times of India report says stubble burning has increased.

Solicitor General: Thus, we say till 18th we have to be watchful.

. CJI Ramana: Why don't you ask Punjab, Haryana Chief Secretaries to cease stubble burning for a few days?

Solicitor General: The chief secretaries are meeting today. Colour of political parties does not matter. It is a joint responsibility.. but implementation has to be at state level.

. Solicitor General: Today's meeting will have to focus on the emergency situation.

CJI Ramana: We will adjourn this to Monday.

Solicitor General: I apologize.

. CJI Ramana: We don't want apology but only pollution levels to go down. I am not a very sophisticated speaker as I learnt English in class 8.. and studied law in English medium.

Solicitor General: Even I studied in Gujarati medium.

. CJI Ramana: Delhi government said it will install some smog towers and emission control projects.. what happened with that?

. Advocate Rahul Mehra: AQI was 84 on Sept 30 and now it has become 474 and PM 10 has increased by 500 points and PM 7 has increased by 390 points.. probably its the stubble burning and solution lies in a cost effective mechanism. PUSA research scientist can look into this.

. Justice Surya Kant: Now it has become a fashion to bash the farmers, whether its Delhi government or someone else. There was ban on firecrackers, what happened with that?

. Justice Surya Kant: Its an emergency situation whether is prohibition on vehicles or emission control.

CJI Ramana: Why don't you think of some emergency steps.. find a way to stop vehicles on some days.

. Justice Chandrachud: You have opened all schools and now you are witnessing children and their lungs to the pollutants. This is not Centre, but your jurisdiction. What is happening on that front?

. Advocate Mehra: We realise that this situation of pollution in Delhi is like smoking 20 cigarettes a day.

Solicitor General: Stubble can be a part of the problem but not the only reason, it is nobody's case that farmers are responsible for this.

. CJI Ramana: List on Monday and inform us about the steps taken.

Solicitor General: I never knew the similarities between me and the Chief Justice of India.

CJI Ramana: No no no.. thank you.

Air pollution in Delhi [LIVE UPDATES from Supreme Court]

Bar & Bench

Related Stories