CAQM failing in its duty: SC slams pollution watchdog

Observing that the central pollution watchdog is “failing in its duty”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rapped the authority for seeking a two-month adjournment on the issue of temporary closure or relocation of toll plazas at Delhi borders to ease traffic congestion. The SC criticised the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) for lack of “seriousness” in its approach and said it appears to be in no hurry to either identify the causes of the worsening Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR or long-term solutions.

Taking serious note of the severe air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, the court on December 17 last year issued a slew of directions and asked the National Highways Authority of India and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to consider either temporarily closing or relocating the civic body’s nine toll plazas at Delhi borders to ease massive traffic congestion.

On Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the CAQM to convene a meeting of experts in two weeks and submit a report on the major causes of the worsening pollution. The court directed it to start considering long-term solutions in a phased manner and also consider the toll plaza issue, uninfluenced by the stand taken by various stakeholders.

As the hearing commenced, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the CAQM, sought two months’ time on the issue of toll plazas.

The court said the first step is the identification of causes of pollution and refused to grant the request.

“Have you been able to identify the causes of pollution? During all these days, a lot of material is coming in public domain, experts are writing articles, people are having opinions (and) they keep on sending to us on mail,” the bench said.

“Heavy vehicles are contributing a large part, so the first question is how do we address that... By holding a meeting on January 2 and telling us that we will come after two months, that is not acceptable to us. The CAQM is failing in its duty,” the bench observed orally.

It said it will not adjourn the matter beyond two weeks and it will deal with the pollution issue on a continuous basis.

The court said that instead of coming up with a solution, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has filed an affidavit defending the toll plazas as its source of income. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority has also jumped into this and moved an application seeking direction of apportionment of 50 per cent of the environment compensation charge generated at various places in Gurugram, it said.“... Instead of bringing any concrete plan or proposal for some visible long-term remedial measures, (the CAQM) has given a status report which unfortunately does not reflect any seriousness on the part of the authority, which unfortunately is silent on most of the issues raised by this court,” the bench said.

“The CAQM appears to be in no hurry... To either identify the causes of the worsening AQI or the long-term solutions. We are therefore compelled to issue directions necessary to expedite the identification of causes as well as long-term solutions,” it said.The court said there cannot be a one-go decision like introduction of electric vehicles without first examining the consequences that may fall upon the public exchequer.However, with a long-term plan, better alternatives can follow and be implemented in a phased manner, it added.The bench listed the PIL filed by environmentalist MC Mehta for further direction on January 21.

During the December 17 hearing, the court described the pollution crisis as an “annual feature” and called for pragmatic and practical solutions to tackle the menace. It modified its own interim order of August 12 and permitted the authorities to take coercive action against older vehicles that do not meet Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) emission standards.