'In no hurry to identify causes': Supreme Court raps CAQM on Delhi-NCR pollution, rejects 2-month extension request

The Supreme Court on Tuesday flagged concerns over the selective attribution of the causes of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The apex court said that policy responses should be based on scientific evidence and not assumptions. 

The top court asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to identify the reasons behind pollution in Delhi-NCR. The top court also instructed the body to make the findings public. 

The Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant,   asked whether expert bodies have been able to identify the causes of pollution or not. The court observed it was easy to blame buses and trucks for pollution, but asked how the common man travels if public transport is stopped.

The CJI-led bench mentioned that farmers often end up bearing the blame for pollution without a proper assessment of other causes. The bench added that despite stubble burning being at its peak during the time, Delhi witnessed clear blue skies. 

“Have you been able to identify the causes? That is the main issue....during all these days, lot of material is coming in public domain, experts are writing articles, people are having opinions, they keep on sending to us on mail ...heavy vehicles are contributing a large part, so the first question is how do we address that...in the NCR, there is very bad news of housing activities, constructions continue," the CJI said. 

The CJI rebuked the CAQM for delays in implementation and rejected requests for a two-month extension for toll and environmental charge resolutions while mandating a unified expert panel to standardise pollution source data within a period of 2 weeks.

"CAQM appears to be in no hurry in either identifying the causes of the worsening the AQI or the long term solutions...we are therefore compelled to issue directions necessary to expedite the identification of causes as well as long term solutions," CJI Kant said.

CJI Surya Kant also instructed the pollution monitor to consider the issue of toll plazas without being influenced by various stakeholders. 

The amicus curiae in the case underlined implementation failures in the previous orders and proposed long-term measures such as fuel transitions for industries, stricter vehicle enforcement via ALPR, and toll suspensions to reduce heavy traffic contributions without adding to the daily commuters' woes.