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A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, hearing the MC Mehta case, said authorities should act proactively and not wait for pollution levels to reach “severe” levels.
Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the bench as amicus curiae, cited media reports indicating that several air quality monitoring stations in Delhi were not functioning during the Diwali period.
“One after another, newspapers are saying that monitoring stations are not working. If monitoring stations are not working, we don’t even know when to implement GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan)… Out of 37 monitoring stations, only nine were working continuously on Diwali,” he said.
The amicus curiae urged the bench to ensure that CAQM submits clear data and an action plan.
He said earlier orders had mandated pre-emptive measures rather than reactive steps if the pollution situation worsened.
“CAQM will have to file an affidavit stating what steps it proposes to take to prevent the pollution from becoming severe,” the bench said in its order.
CAQM’s lawyer said that the responsibility of monitoring the data rests with the Central Pollution Control Board.
However, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati assured the bench that the agencies concerned would file the necessary reports.
On October 15, the CJI-led bench had allowed the sale and bursting of green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR during Diwali with conditions to balance the tradition with environmental and health concerns.
The court had made it clear that the use of green crackers would be limited to specific hours on Diwali and the day before. Sale of green crackers was allowed from 18 to 20 October.
It had also made it clear that the relaxation was only on “test case basis and would be for a specified period only”.
Notably, the bench had said, “The Central Pollution Control Board, in consultation with the State Pollution Control Boards and their respective regional offices within the districts falling within the NCR, shall monitor the air quality index in their respective jurisdictions beginning from October 14 to October 25 and file a report before this court specifying the air quality on each day mentioned above…
“Along with such monitoring, the regional offices of the State Pollution Control Board will also take samples of sand and water from high density areas for analysis,” the bench had said.