The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Delhi government to go ahead with construction activities of hospitals in the city and expressed satisfaction over fresh steps taken by the Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR for enforcement of orders to tackle air pollution. A Bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant approving the measures proposed by the Commission directed the Centre and Delhi government to comply with Commission’s December 2 orders. “We have taken into consideration the directions proposed. We direct Centre and NCT of Delhi to implement the orders of December 2 and we keep the matter pending and will hear it on next Friday,” the Bench stated in its order.
The Delhi government urged the apex court to allow construction activities of hospitals in the city adding to prepare and counter the possible Covid-19 third wave, it had started to revamp its hospital infrastructure and started construction of seven new hospitals, but due to the construction ban, work has stopped. In addition to that, work is being carried out in 19 government hospitals to provide better health infrastructure in the national capital for the benefit of patients, Delhi government told the Bench requesting that construction work at hospitals be exempted from the ban.
The state of Uttar Pradesh, represented by senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, took objection to the decision to close industries saying that it will impact the working of sugarcane and milk industries. The Commission’s decision to allow industries to work only eight hours will affect the sugarcane industry, Kumar said. He added that Uttar Pradesh is in the downward wind and the air is mostly coming from Pakistan. The Bench allowed Uttar Pradesh to raise its grievances before the Commission.
Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR filed the affidavit before the apex court apprising about the measures taken by it on December 2, saying it has constituted an enforcement task force to monitor compliance with its directions to control air pollution.
The Commission said an Enforcement Task Force of five members has been constituted by the commission in the exercise of its statutory power and 17 flying squads are constituted to act against violators. The number of flying squads would be increased to 40 in the next 24 hours, Commission in its affidavit told the Bench. They said Flying Squads have already started functioning from 2 December itself and have conducted surprise checks at 25 sites, it said.
The Enforcement Task Force itself will exercise powers of taking punitive and preventive measures against the non-compliant/defaulting persons/entities and the flying squads will directly report to the Enforcement Task Force of the Commission, affidavit stated.
Commission also told the top court that schools and colleges in NCR shall remain closed till further orders, allowing only online mode of application except for the purpose of conducting examinations and laboratory practicals etc.
Entry of trucks in Delhi shall not be permitted, except for CNG and electric trucks and trucks carrying essential commodities, the affidavit filed by the Commission said.
AQI OF DELHI-NCR
Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital has not budged from the “very poor” category for a while now. On Friday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi (overall) stood at 385, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
The pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR), namely Noida and Gurugram, was also worrisome. Noida reported AQI in the “hazardous” category at 562, while the air quality in Gurugram was at the upper end of ‘severe’ category at 413. As per the agency, in the next three days, the air quality would deteriorate further but will continue to remain in the ‘very poor’ category.