NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Friday heard its suo motu case on air pollution in Delhi-NCR, with a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana taking submissions from senior advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae, and the Centre's counsel, LiveLaw reported in its live coverage of the hearing on November 6.

Source: LiveLaw

Opening the hearing, Chief Justice Kant remarked, "We hope all of you are enjoying Delhi weather," according to LiveLaw. Singh replied that pollution levels were hovering around the severe category, saying the court participants were losing their voice and that breathing the air was like smoking 30 cigarettes a day. She told the bench that stubble burning contributed 14 per cent to Delhi's pollution on November 5, but stressed that the capital was already polluted before farm fires tipped it further, the Times of India report of the hearing said.

Source: Times of India via 7Globe

"Transport is the biggest problem," Singh told the court, pointing to transport, energy and waste burning as the local sources across the National Capital Region that need work alongside stubble burning. Chief Justice Kant agreed that vehicles were a major cause, pointing to bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads connecting Delhi with the NCR and the lack of adequate public transport, and noting that the city's AQI was "already touching 400". He questioned whether scientific methods had been adopted, observing that other measures had been "tried and failed tools", the report said.

Source: Times of India via 7Globe

On stubble, the Chief Justice said the sowing season was under way and burning should have stopped, and suggested that the stubble procurement rate be announced in advance and that machinery be provided to gram panchayats, since individual farmers cannot afford the equipment, with storage facilities for collected stubble that could also bring income. Singh said farmers faced difficulties even when equipment was provided — they lacked fuel, whose price she underlined, and the machines did not work well on small farms. The Additional Solicitor General said a scheme was already in place, agreed to raise the court's suggestions with the Agriculture Ministry, and said farm fires had reduced significantly this year, particularly in Haryana, where financial incentives had been introduced.

Source: Times of India via 7Globe

On vehicles, the Additional Solicitor General cited measures including phasing out diesel-operated rickshaws and rules for buses from other cities entering Delhi, and said the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) regulated activities according to pollution levels. He conceded that an earlier court order concerning toll plazas — where vehicles stopped at NCR borders and idle — had not been fully implemented. Delhi's overall AQI stood at 389 in the 'very poor' category at 8 am on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data cited in the report, with IIT Delhi and Rohini at 474, Punjabi Bagh at 465 and RK Puram at 443 in the 'severe' category.

Source: Times of India via 7Globe / CPCB