THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Nov 10: During the hearing on pollution in Delhi on Friday, the Supreme Court questioned the Odd-Even rule and issued an order to put out farm fires immediately.
A bench led by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul stated, “As per the report from amicus curiae, advocate assisting the court on the issue, odd-even does not help; it will have a minimal impact.”
Regarding the Delhi government’s submission that it will finalize its policy on odd-even after the Supreme Court’s order, the Supreme Court stated, “Don’t try to not perform and then shift the burden on the court.”
The Supreme Court made it clear that it wants farm fires to stop. “We suggested a methodology; you do it however you want. But farm fires must be stopped. Some emergency measures are required to stop the farm fires,” the Supreme Court stated.
The Centre and the Punjab government were questioned by the Supreme Court over the long-term measures they are implementing to gradually phase out paddy in order to restore the water table in Punjab.
“We want farm fires stopped, we want air quality to get better. It’s your business how it occurs,” SC said.
Furthermore, the court noted that farmers are integral to society, emphasizing the need for them to exhibit greater responsibility and for society to be more responsive to their requirements. “But people cannot be made to die,” it added.
The Supreme Court remarked that farmers in Punjab are highly organized and questioned the government about why it doesn’t engage in dialogue with their bodies to encourage and motivate them.
“The pollution level must come down, it cannot await tomorrow,” SC said.
Furthermore, commenting on today’s rainfall in the national capital, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul stated that people can only pray; at times, the wind comes to assist, and at times, there is rain.
“God may have heard the prayers of people and intervened; no thanks to the government,” Justice Kaul said.
The Supreme Court was addressing the concern of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The bench has subsequently scheduled the next hearing for November 21.
Parts of Delhi saw morning showers today, which provided a slight respite from the noxious air that residents had been suffering from for the previous few weeks.
As of 7 am today, SAFAR, the government’s air-quality monitoring agency, reported an overall air quality of 407 in Delhi. While still falling into the ‘Very Poor’ category, the Air Quality Index reported at 10 am was 361, indicating a modest improvement above the ‘Severe’ category.
