Centre to bring ‘comprehensive law’ to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR

Delhi/NCR is among the most polluted regions of the world. Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Bhiwadi and other NCR towns all recorded ‘very poor’ category air on Monday.

Centre will bring a new law to control air pollution specifically in Delhi/NCR region within a week, RP Gupta, secretary, environment ministry said on Monday.

Air pollution near Supreme Court on Tilak Marg in New Delhi. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

“I will not share any details of the law or what penalties are involved but this is a comprehensive law focused only on the Delhi/NCR region to curb the air pollution menace here from various sources. It is not an amendment of existing laws,” he said responding to HT’s queries.

Delhi/NCR is among the most polluted regions of the world. Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Bhiwadi and other NCR towns all recorded ‘very poor’ category air on Monday.

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday suspended its earlier order that was issued on October 16 appointing former apex court Judge Madan B Lokur as a one-man committee to enforce a strict ban on stubble burning in neighbouring states of the national capital such as Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh (UP). The order was “kept in abeyance” by a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, after Solicitor-General (S-G) Tushar Mehta informed the court about a comprehensive law being planned by the Centre to control air pollution.

India recorded the highest annual average PM 2.5 concentration exposure in the world last year according to the State of Global Air 2020 (SOGA 2020) report released last week.

India was followed by Nepal, Niger, Qatar and Nigeria in high PM 2.5 exposures. This means people in India are exposed to the highest PM 2.5 concentrations globally. The report also said that India has been recording an increase in PM 2.5 pollutant since 2010. Central Pollution Control Board’s 2019 report indicates that the national average PM 2.5 concentrations have been recording a rising trend in the past three years owing to the increasing number of vehicles and re-suspension of natural dust. Out of 20 most populous countries, 14 have recorded a gradual improvement in air quality.

India, Bangladesh, Niger, Pakistan and Japan are among countries that have recorded a modest increase in air pollution levels. CPCB officials declined to comment on the provisions of the new law.