Silent monitors, vanishing data: SC pulls up CAQM

Finding several air quality monitoring stations were not working, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to file an affidavit detailing the steps it has taken so far to prevent air pollution in Delhi-NCR from deteriorating further.

A bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, which was hearing the MC Mehta case, said that the authorities must act proactively and not wait for pollution levels to reach a “severe” stage. Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the bench as an amicus curiae, flagged media reports indicating that several air quality monitoring stations in Delhi were not functioning during the Diwali period.

“There are newspapers after newspapers saying that monitoring stations are non-functional. If the monitoring stations are not even functioning, we don’t even know when to implement GRAP (graded response action plan)… Out of 37 monitoring stations, only nine were functioning continuously on the day of Diwali,” she said.

The amicus urged the bench to ensure that CAQM submits clear data and an action plan. She said the earlier orders mandated pre-emptive measures, rather than reactive steps, once pollution worsened.

“The CAQM is required to place on record an affidavit as to what steps are proposed to be taken to prevent the pollution from turning severe,” the bench said in its order. The counsel for the CAQM said that the Central Pollution Control Board is responsible for monitoring data.

However, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati assured the bench that the agencies concerned will file the required report. On October 15, the CJI-led bench permitted the sale and bursting of green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR during Diwali with conditions aimed at balancing tradition with environmental and health concerns.