Kumar Bahukhandi
The Bench pointed out delay in implementation of preventive measures under stage 4 of GRAP even after the Air Quality Index (AQI) touched alarming levels in the national capital
The Supreme Court slammed the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday November 18 , 2024 for delayed action while directing Stage IV of the Graded Response Plan (GRAP) to continue even if the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital and its regions fell below the ‘severe-plus’ 450 threshold.
A Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Augustine George Masih said the CAQM, rather than taking pre-emptive action to contain air pollution, waited in vain for the air to improve.
The Supreme Court slammed the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday for delayed action while directing Stage IV of the Graded Response Plan (GRAP) to continue even if the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital and its regions fell below the ‘severe-plus’ 450 threshold.
A Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Augustine George Masih said the CAQM, rather than taking pre-emptive action to contain air pollution, waited in vain for the air to improve.
The Bench ordered the heightened restrictions against air pollution to remain status quo until further directions from the apex court.
Though the Delhi government said it had stopped construction work in the capital, lawyers alerted the Bench to building work happening within the apex court complex itself. They said the AQI in the courtroom was 994. Justice Oka immediately summoned the Supreme Court Secretary General to read him the GRAP-IV restrictions.
In its order, the court noted that the AQI had crossed 400 on November 12, and instead of immediately directing the implementation of GRAP-III, the CAQM waited 24 hours, till November 14. The same thing had happened in the kicking in of GRAP-IV.
“When AQI crossed 450 at 6 p.m. on November 13, CAQM directed its implementation from November 18,” Justice Oka pointed out.
The court found the approach of the CAQM “completely wrong”.
“They (the CAQM) wrongly anticipated the AQI to come down. They should have anticipated it going up. This court’s direction on October 29, 2018 was to take pre-emptive steps, and not wait for improvement of AQI to implement restrictions. The approach of CAQM was completely wrong,” the apex court observed.
The court directed all State governments which have areas within the National Capital Region (NCR) to strictly implement GRAP-IV. These States have to immediately constitute monitoring committees to ensure the strict implementation of GRAP-IV.
The Supreme Court slammed the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday for delayed action while directing Stage IV of the Graded Response Plan (GRAP) to continue even if the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital and its regions fell below the ‘severe-plus’ 450 threshold.
A Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Augustine George Masih said the CAQM, rather than taking pre-emptive action to contain air pollution, waited in vain for the air to improve.
