‘Toothless tiger’: SC raps air pollution panel for inaction on stubble burning; summons Punjab, Haryana top aides

Delhi air pollution: The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the air pollution panel, calling the Commission for Air Quality Management(CAQM) a “toothless tiger " for not prosecuting violators found guilty of stubble burning. 

The apex court summoned the state chief secretaries of Haryana and Punjab government to appear on October 23 and submit an explanation.

Stubble burning, which is associated with rice-wheat cropping pattern, has been a long standing issue which exacerbates air pollution levels in Delhi and its neighbouring regions during the winter season. In September, stubble burning increased 19.8 per cent in Haryana and declined 28.7 per cent in Punjab.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih heard the matter. The three-judge bench directed the CAQM to take penal action against Haryana and Punjab government officials for failing to prosecute the violators, PTI reported.

‘Attitude of complete defiance’

The Supreme Court observed that nothing has been done by the Punjab and Haryana governments to take action against stubble burning. Stating that the rising issue was "not a political matter," the Supreme Court announced that “if chief secretary is acting at somebody's behest, we will issue summons against them as well.”

"Next Wednesday(October 23), we are going to physically call chief secretary and explain everything. Nothing has been done, same is with Punjab government. The attitude is of complete defiance,"the SC bench observed, according to the PTI report.

Slamming the CAQM as a ‘toothless tiger’, the top court said the Punjab government did not carry out even a “single prosecution in past three years.”

Delhi air pollution

Delhi and its surrounding regions are engulfed with air pollution that spreads across the National Capital Region (NCR) around Diwali every year, which extends well into the winter.

On October 15, Delhi's air quality slipped into the 'poor' category, reaching 234. This caused the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to activate Stage-I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the national capital region.

Air quality standards are slotted under six categories—good (0-50), satisfactory (51-100), moderate (101-200), poor (201-300), very poor (301-400) and severe (401-500).