Concerned over the rising air pollution in the National Capital Region, the Supreme Court today constituted a one-member committee, comprising the retired judge Justice Madan Lokur, to look into the problem of “stubble burning’’.
“We are only concerned about the citizens of Delhi-NCR being able to breathe in fresh clean air,” held the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde.
In a significant move, the apex court has directed the court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) and chief secretaries of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to assist the Lokur panel during physical surveillance of fields where stubble is burnt. “The concerned state governments,’’ the bench held, “ will provide secretarial, security and financial facilities to this committee. The National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts will also be deployed for assisting the panel. The committee will submit its report to the Supreme Court in 15 days.”
The court order has come on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by two environmental activists who urged the judges to initiate steps stop the stubble burning. According to the petition, despite the court monitoring the states were not doing enough in this direction.
The bench heard the states of Punjab and Haryana. It recorded in its order that though adequate steps had been taken, preventive steps also needed need to be put in place amid the rising pollution in Delhi and NCR.
