Punjab receives harsh warnings from the Supreme Court on stubble burning: "Stop it" amidst air pollution in Delhi

 Punjab receives harsh warnings from the Supreme Court on stubble burning: "Stop it" amidst air pollution in Delhi

Delhi air pollution: Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan were ordered by the Supreme Court to "forthwith" cease burning stubble.

The national capital's air quality remained classified as "severe" on Tuesday, when the Punjab government was chastised by the Supreme Court for stubble burning. Parts of Delhi were covered in dense haze clouds. It was noted that political conflict couldn't exist continuously. "We want the burning of stumps to cease. It's your job; we have no idea how you do it. However, it needs to end. The Punjab administration was told by the Supreme Court, "Something has to be done immediately."

When hearing a case involving air pollution, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that he had seen extensive flames on both sides of the road over the weekend while traveling through Punjab.

In order to comply with the court's ruling, chief secretaries and director generals of police in Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan were told to "forthwith" cease stubble burning.

The court also placed responsibility on the Center, recommending that it find measures to force farmers to switch to other crops rather than continuing to maintain Punjab's minimum support price (MSP) for paddy.

"Millet has been promoted by the government. The judge questioned, "Why not promote it?"

The hearing was postponed until Friday.

Over 2,000 agricultural fires were recorded in Punjab on Monday, while the air quality index in several sections of Haryana was classified as "severe" or "very poor," with "poor" in other portions of the border state. The Punjab Remote Sensing Centre in Ludhiana has documented 2,060 new stubble-burning occurrences, bringing the total number of these instances to 19,463 as of Monday. Farmers have been burning agricultural leftovers.

The news agency PTI stated citing statistics that stubble-burning incidences registered between November 1 and November 6 account for 61% of all such occurrences this season. According to the statistics, there were 19,463 recorded incidences of stubble burning between September 15 and November 6, which is 35% less than the 29,999 cases during the same time previous year. 32,734 agricultural fires were recorded by the state in 2021 over the same time frame.

In the meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) for Fatehabad, Haryana, was 425. This was followed by that of Faridabad, Sonipat, Jind, Hisar, 380, Gurugram, 376, Kaithal, 370, Narnaul, 340, Bhiwani, 326, Rohtak, and Sirsa. Punjab had an AQI of 329 in Amritsar, 297 in Bathinda, 283 in Ludhiana, 266 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 231 in Jalandhar, 228 in Khanna, and 220 in Patiala. The combined capital of Punjab and Haryana, Union Territory Chandigarh, with an AQI of 149.

Burning paddy straw in Punjab and Haryana is thought to be a primary cause of the concerning increase in Delhi's air pollution between October and November.

In addition, the top court on Tuesday ordered Rajasthan and other states to abide by its previous ruling regarding the use of firecrackers during the holiday season. The Rajasthan government was instructed by the Supreme Court to take action to reduce air pollution, particularly during the festival, and to remember that it is everyone's responsibility to control pollution.

The court's ruling was in response to an appeal that raised concerns about Udaipur's high pollution levels due to a declining air quality index and a lack of laws defining noise pollution standards.

There is a misconception that courts have the responsibility for pollution. However, it must be everyone's responsibility, the court said.