The court also took note of reports that the air quality monitoring stations indicated “extremely high” levels of pollutants.The amicus curiae, appointed by the Delhi High Court to report on the extent of air pollution in Delhi, on Wednesday told the court that particulate matter — from construction and dust — and Benzene — an essential base in unleaded petrol — were the highest pollutants in the capital.
Taking note of directions issued by the National Green Tribunal earlier this year, the court of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva observed that the orders relating to parking charges and removal of unauthorised parking “treated the symptoms and not the issue”.
The court has now asked the amicus curiae, senior advocate Kailash Vasdev, to “prepare an action plan” detailing reasons for each step. It asked the counsels for the Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCC), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Delhi government, the three municipal corporations and other civic agencies to be present on the next date of hearing so that “meaningful directions” can be issued.
The court also took note of reports submitted by the DPCC and Vasdev, observing that the six air quality monitoring stations — at
R K Puram, Civil Lines, IGI airport, Anand Vihar, Mandir Marg, and Punjabi Bagh — indicated “extremely high” levels of pollutants.
The court had earlier directed the government to submit data after continuously monitoring the air quality for a week.
According to DPCC’s affidavit, the “real time data is to inform the public and not for comparison with standards” as it may have “peaks” induced by “localised condition”.
Vasdev also informed the court that machines at monitoring stations “stopped” recording data after pollutant levels increased beyond the acceptable limit.
According to the senior lawyer, the levels for particulate matter, which causes respiratory problems, were much beyond the acceptable limit.