Delhi High Court seeks action plan from states to stop stubble burning

A bench of justice BD Ahmed and justice Ashutosh Kumar directed the resident commissioners of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to send a representative before the court to explain their action plan to tackle burning of crop stubble.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought responses from four neighbouring states on the burning of crop stubble, which spikes air pollution in the capital during winters.

Stubble burning in winters leads to pollution in Delhi.

A bench of justice BD Ahmed and justice Ashutosh Kumar directed the resident commissioners of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to send a representative before the court to explain their action plan to tackle burning of crop stubble.

“Though prohibited by various laws, yet each year around the time of Deepawali, Delhi is engulfed in a cloud of haze of which the largest contributor is burning of biomass and crop stubble burning,” the bench said.

“These are leading to respiratory problem both in elders and the young,” the court said.

“Certain percentages of these air pollutants are carcinogenic - having the potential to cause cancer. Some of them are so small Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) they can get absorbed in the blood,” the court said.

Air pollution has definitely affected the quality of life and longevity, the bench said after it was shown a NASA satellite report showing air pollution in the capital increases every year around October and November due to burning of crop stubble in neighbouring states.

“Reality is known to everyone in Delhi that pollution is killing everyone of us. Just ask any pediatric, he will tell you the list of complication kids in Delhi are facing,” the bench said.

The court’s direction came on a public interest litigation initiated by it on air pollution in the national capital.

Read: 8.9 million reasons why Delhi should worry about its air

A new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on ambient air pollution levels puts Delhi among the most polluted cities in the world.

The court noted that the burning of crop stubble will begin in another three weeks if it did not pass any order to stop it.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on October 6.

A study by the Centre for Science and Environment showed how improvement in Delhi’s air quality during the odd-even restriction in April was overshadowed by forest fires and agricultural stubble burning in the neighbouring states.

India produces 500 million tonnes (MT) of crop residues annually. Uttar Pradesh tops the chart with 60 MT followed by Punjab (51 MT) — both are Delhi’s neighbours. Uttar Pradesh burns up to 13 MT of crop residues.

The National Green Tribunal had also asked the Centre to take concrete steps to check burning of crop residues that result in choking smog spells, aggravating the already high pollution levels in Delhi.