The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would examine whether farmers in Punjab and Haryana were burning crop stubble after satellites mapping farm fires had passed over their areas, The Hindu reported.
The remark came after Amicus Curiae Aparajita Singh told the court that the number of fires detected by satellites did not match the actual fire spots on the ground, the Hindustan Times reported.
An amicus curiae is a person that is not a party to the case but provides advice or information to the court.
She also said that she had received data from a scientist at the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration that claimed that farm fires were on the rise, the newspaper reported.
The burning of crop residue is among the contributors to air pollution in Delhi, which has been in the “severe” category for the past three days.
Chief Justice BR Gavai, however, expressed doubts about the claim, the Hindustan Times reported.
“Do you want us to believe that all farmers will wait for the satellite to move?” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
In response, the amicus curiae said that reports from last year said that local officials in Punjab were telling farmers to burn stubble after a particular time .
“If this is true, it is alarming,” the Hindustan Times quoted Singh as saying.
The court agreed to examine the matter during the next hearing on November 17.
The bench also told the Punjab and Haryana governments to file their latest reports on measures they have taken to curb stubble burning.
Singh also told the judges that several lawyers, including advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, had called on the court to direct that Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan be implemented in Delhi, The Hindu reported.
“Your lordships have asked the CAQM [Commission for Air Quality Management] to take steps in anticipation,” she told the judges. “The AQI [air quality index] has already breached 400. The CAQM must not wait for it to turn ‘severe plus’. It should anticipate and take action now.”
GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi-NCR region.
Currently, Stage 3 restrictions under the plan, which entail a ban on non-essential construction work and the shifting of primary schools to hybrid mode, are in place. Stage 4 restrictions would mean a ban on all construction activities and the shifting of all school classes, except Class 10 and 12, to hybrid mode.
Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, which is often ranked the world’s most polluted capital.
Apart from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, vehicular pollution, the lighting of firecrackers, falling temperatures, decreased wind speeds and emissions from industries and coal-fired plants contribute to the problem.
Also read: Why Punjab’s farmers are rejecting solutions to curb stubble burning
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