With vehicular emissions emerging as a growing contributor to Delhi-NCR’s deteriorating air quality even as incidents of stubble burning have declined, the Supreme Court has called for “urgent and immediate intervention”, directing Delhi and three neighbouring states to explain how they regulate the entry and movement of vehicles, enforce emission standards and keep overage and polluting vehicles off the roads.
The court specifically directed the authorities to disclose the mechanisms in place to identify and regulate vehicles that do not conform to prescribed emission standards, including enforcement of Pollution Under Control (PUC) certification requirements, and the steps taken to prevent the entry and operation of overage, end-of-life and otherwise non-compliant vehicles. The order also signals more focused judicial scrutiny of different sources of pollution, with the Supreme Court scheduling separate hearings in four companion suo motu proceedings dealing with vehicular emissions, green cover, pollution from construction activities and industries, and solid waste management, including crop-residue burning and firecrackers. The court also gave the states two weeks to place on record their submissions on the steps already taken, their response to suggestions made by the CAQM and the amici curiae, and any independent measures they propose to undertake.
To be sure, in a report submitted to the court earlier this year, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had identified vehicular emissions as the single-largest source of air pollution in NCR, accounting for 23% of pollution in winter and 19% in summer. The assessment showed a substantial decline in incidents of stubble burning across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan between October 21 and November 3. The amici had pointed out that compliance with the court’s earlier orders of January 21 and February 23 had yet to be properly reported.
However, the same data also highlighted a “sharp increase in issues attributable to vehicular emissions”, shifting the focus to what the bench described as an equally pressing source of pollution.
The latest intervention follows an assessment of compliance with the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), placed before the court by amicus curiae and senior advocate Aparajita Singh, along with additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati. In an order released on Sunday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Delhi government , Delhi Police ’s traffic department, and the governments of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to file detailed responses on the regulatory framework governing commercial and non-commercial vehicles operating within the national capital and the wider National Capital Region (NCR).
