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NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Friday refused to relax the strict measures in force under stage 4 of Grap despite Delhi’s air quality improving a bit from ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ over the last two days. The curbs will stay at least till Monday, the court said, reports Amit Anand Choudhary.
SC’s decision proved to be prescient as the city’s AQI slipped back into the ‘severe’ zone in the evening. At 4pm, when the day’s 24-hour average is declared, the AQI was still ‘very poor’ at 393, having deteriorated from the previous day’s average of 371. However, by 6pm, the AQI was severe again at 401.
A bench of Justices A S Oka and Augustine George Masih expressed dissatisfaction over implementation of the ban on entry of trucks in the city which is mandated under Grap-4 and appointed 13 young lawyers as court commissioners to visit the entry points and file a report. There are around 113 entry points for heavy vehicles to enter the city, of which 13 are major ones. “We are not satisfied with the affidavit of the Delhi govt,” the bench said.
It directed Delhi govt and police to ensure that checkposts are immediately set up at all 113 entry points and personnel manning the entry points clearly informed about the accepted essential items whose entry would be permitted. It directed police to facilitate the visit of court commissioners to the sites and also share CCTV footage with them.
“As far as entry of trucks is concerned, there is no implementation. Hundred entry points are unmanned. There is no implementation of fireworks ban, construction… nothing was being implemented. Somebody has to be answerable. The percentage share of pollution caused by these trucks is a very large,” the bench said. Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for CAQM, urged the court to allow relaxation of Grap-4 measures.
“Please allow us to bring it down to at least Grap-3. Yesterday and today, we have come to the Grap-2 stage,” she told the bench. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for some parents, also pressed for allowing physical classes in schools saying that closing down schools affected working parents and also children with special needs.
Agreeing with her plea, the bench said consequences of Grap-4 were very drastic and it affected various sections of society. The court gave an assurance that it would examine on Monday whether the decision needs to be reviewed.
Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the court as amicus, requested the bench to appoint a committee of retired SC judges to monitor and suggest measures to deal with the pollution crisis in Delhi which has become an annual affair. Bhati vehemently opposed the proposal and said, “We are strongly opposing this. Please do not create any more tiers. There is no judicial application of mind that is required. Your lordships are already monitoring.
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