The Supreme Court on Wednesday rapped the Union government for its inability to curb stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana and for not imposing penalties on violators under provisions of the 2021 Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas Act, PTI reported.
The court said that the law had been made “toothless” by the Union government.
The bench of Justices Abhay Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih said that the CAQM Act had been enacted without establishing the necessary infrastructure needed to curb air pollution.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said that section 15 of the CAQM Act – which prescribes the penalty for stubble burning – would be implemented soon.
Bhati said that the guidelines to implement the provision would be issued in 10 days and that an adjudicating officer would be appointed to enforce the law.
She also pointed out that the Supreme Court-appointed Commission for Air Quality Management has issued notices to the officials in the Punjab and Haryana governments and the states’ pollution control boards, asking why action should not be taken against them for failure to curb stubble burning.
To this, the court responded: “Please tell your chairperson of CAQM not to bail out these officials. We know what is happening on the ground.”
On October 16, the Supreme Court said that the failure of the Haryana and Punjab governments to curb stubble burning showed “complete defiance”.
No prosecutions had taken place against violators for stubble burning despite the court reprimanding Punjab and Haryana earlier this month, the bench observed.
A stubble of stalks about two feet high is left in the fields after paddy is harvested in October. Because the sowing cycle for wheat begins in late October, farmers have very little time to prepare their fields and so typically set fire to the stubble and then clear the residue.
Air quality plunges in the winter months in Delhi, which is often ranked the world’s most polluted capital. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the factors that contributes to air pollution in the region in conjunction with falling temperatures, low wind speeds and emissions from industries and coal-fired plants.
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