Supreme Court to hear plea on Delhi air pollution on November 10

The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine on November 10 a plea for taking urgent steps in connection with worsening air pollution in Delhi NCR due to alleged stubble burning in Punjab and other neighbouring states.

A lawyer, Shashank Shekhar Jha mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice U U Lalit, seeking urgent hearing.

He said that air quality in the capital fell in severe category due to increase in stubble burning.

"Parali (stubble) burning is one of the main reasons for the increasing air pollution in Delhi and NCR. Please hear the matter," the lawyer submitted.

The bench said it agrees that the matter requires intervention and fixed the plea for hearing on November 10.

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The air quality of the national capital on Thursday morning turned 'severe' as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city stood at 418, according to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

However, by the evening, the overall Air Quality Index further deteriorated and surged to 458, as per the SAFAR data.

The PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentration stood at 458 and 433, respectively, both under the same 'Severe' category, according to the SAFAR data.

The AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good'; from 51 to 100 'satisfactory'; 101- 200 'moderate'; 201-300 'poor'; 301-400 'very poor'; and 401-500 'severe'.

On Thursday, the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) asked Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to take an immediate call on the closure of schools and colleges and allow half of the employees to work from home as the National Capital Region’s air quality deteriorated further, causing health problems among the vulnerable.

In his plea, Jha sought fresh guidelines for states in respect to stubble burning and appoint a panel under a retired SC judge to tackle pollution, chiefly to deal with stubble burning.

He also sought a direction to states to install smog-towers, carry out plantation drive, make available affordable public transport, discourage use of private vehicles, among others.