The Supreme Court scolded the central, Punjab, and Haryana sectors for not controlling farm fire emission that significantly leads to the poor air quality within the Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka said it was not satisfied with the implementation and called the actions of the states “merely tokenism.”
This led to Punjab being scolded for levying token fines on farmers for flouting anti-stubble burning rules of not more than 44 prosecutions. The court also pointed that fines ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 per offender have been deemed as token which do not act as deterrence.
There was no prosecution just three months into 2022 while Haryana also drew similar flak, despite reporting a decline in farm fires. This the Supreme Court labelled as ironical in terms of enforcement arguing that the state had purposefully exempted some farmers and fined others.
The court also criticised the central government’s environmental protection laws as toothless, particularly the Commission for Air Quality Management Act of 2021 that has no measures for enforcing compliance.
The bench also urged people to curb pollution before winter sets in as it deteriorates in Delhi especially during Diwali due to the use of fire crackers. The Delhi government meanwhile has already turned on the second stage of the Graded Response Action Plan, which prevents the sale and use of firecrackers to address the potential air pollution problem.
With Delhi on the verge of another reason of struggling to breathe, which begins in November, Supreme Court’s scathing comments are a pointer to the lack of and will to fight pollution and lack of civil authority crackdowns that are required to combat it.
With input from agencies
