Centre, states complicit in inaction on air pollution: Congress

New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Hours after the SC on Tuesday passed directions to the states bordering Delhi NCR including UP, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana to take immediate steps to curtail the air pollution, the Congress said that it is a crisis that affects entire north India and both the Centre and the states have been complicit in their inaction.

“SC has had very strong words to say about the dangerous levels of air pollution in the nation's capital. But it is a crisis that affects entire north India, especially. Both the Centre and the states have been complicit in their inaction,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote on X.

He said that it would also be in the public interest if the Supreme Court in the same spirit intervenes to reverse the weakening of the National Green Tribunal by the Modi government.

He said that the NGT was created by Parliament in 2010, but since the past few years a “systematic effort” has been made to render it ineffective.

“Public health has as a consequence suffered,” the Congress leader said.

His remarks came after the SC on Tuesday posed several crucial questions to the Punjab government on the issue of stubble burning and the resultant pollution in Delhi.

The bench of Justice Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia passed directives to stop stubble burning, saying that residents of Delhi are suffering because they can't find a solution. This has been going on for the past five years. The matter requires immediate action and court monitoring.

The bench passed several directions to the states bordering Delhi-NCR including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana to stop stubble burning and take immediate steps to curtail the air pollution.

The court said that local SHO should be made responsible for looking into stubble burning under the supervision of the Chief Secretary.

The court, while hearing the parties involved, said that this can't be a political battle. The court also asked why paddy was being grown in Punjab when the water tables were already so low.

"What are you doing? Look at your water table. Why are you allowing paddy in Punjab? You want to turn Punjab into a land of no crops from the green land," the bench remarked.