The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre, Delhi government and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on three toddlers' petition seeking ban on bursting of crackers this Diwali, saying its fumes would turn the capital's already critically polluted air poisonous.
A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Adarsh Goel sought responses from the governments and CPCB in a week but brushed aside repeated pleas from senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A M Singhvi and K K Venugopal for an interim stay on bursting crackers.
Sibal pleaded that the governments must formulate a policy to allow citizens to burst crackers as a community event and not continue doing so whenever they felt, riding on the licence of festival seasons which were plenty and spread across the year.
But the bench was apprehensive in passing an ex-parte interim order given the large number of stakeholders, including cracker manufacturing units and dealers, and the religious connotations. The court said that it would examine feasibility of an interim order on October 16 after getting responses from governments.
Sibal pressed on. "Most crackers on bursting emit carcinogenic fumes which are critically harmful for children, who are already living in a city that is globally recognized as the most polluted. A survey in 160 cities in 26 countries has revealed that Delhi is the worst polluted city," he said.
The bench said, "If you are seeking an order having all-India application, then we must hear all the states prior to passing such an order." Sibal said for now, he was seeking an order for Delhi only.
The bench said, "Issuing notice on the petition to the respondents is not a problem. But we cannot pass any interim order without hearing the parties."
In a first of its kind petition, two six-month-olds Arjun Gopal and Aarav Bhandari and 14month-old Zoya Rao Bhasin had moved the SC through their advocate fathers seeking a host of pollution control measures, citing their right to clean air guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
They sought the SC's intervention "against inevitable and upcoming widespread use of firecrackers and fireworks and other products of the same classification, especially during Dussehra and Diwali, but thereafter in all events and festivities as well".
They said, "Over the last two years, Delhi has retained the unique distinction of being the most polluted city in the world. The levels of particulate matter are highest, and across the country, over 7 lakh deaths occur annually due to air pollution related diseases.
"In Delhi, a majority of the pollution is caused by over 500 million tonnes of crop residue burnt annually in neighbouring areas, by polluting trucks that pass through the city during the night, road dust and pollution from industries. To add to this, the smoke from bursting of crackers in the months of October and November during the festivals of Dussehra and Diwali virtually clogs the atmosphere and increases the pollution level, magnifying the risk of contracting lung diseases."
They said every year, the adverse impact of pollution was debated and forgotten as the lethargic government machinery did little to protect citizens, especially infants and children, from the long-term toxic effects of deadly pollution.
The infants also sought directions from the court on banning burning of post-harvest crop residue, stringent action against those who dump dust, malba (concrete waste) and other pollutants and bringing in Bharat-V emission norms for motor vehicles immediately.
A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Adarsh Goel sought responses from the governments and CPCB in a week but brushed aside repeated pleas from senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A M Singhvi and K K Venugopal for an interim stay on bursting crackers.
Sibal pleaded that the governments must formulate a policy to allow citizens to burst crackers as a community event and not continue doing so whenever they felt, riding on the licence of festival seasons which were plenty and spread across the year.
But the bench was apprehensive in passing an ex-parte interim order given the large number of stakeholders, including cracker manufacturing units and dealers, and the religious connotations. The court said that it would examine feasibility of an interim order on October 16 after getting responses from governments.
Sibal pressed on. "Most crackers on bursting emit carcinogenic fumes which are critically harmful for children, who are already living in a city that is globally recognized as the most polluted. A survey in 160 cities in 26 countries has revealed that Delhi is the worst polluted city," he said.
The bench said, "If you are seeking an order having all-India application, then we must hear all the states prior to passing such an order." Sibal said for now, he was seeking an order for Delhi only.
The bench said, "Issuing notice on the petition to the respondents is not a problem. But we cannot pass any interim order without hearing the parties."
In a first of its kind petition, two six-month-olds Arjun Gopal and Aarav Bhandari and 14month-old Zoya Rao Bhasin had moved the SC through their advocate fathers seeking a host of pollution control measures, citing their right to clean air guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
They sought the SC's intervention "against inevitable and upcoming widespread use of firecrackers and fireworks and other products of the same classification, especially during Dussehra and Diwali, but thereafter in all events and festivities as well".
They said, "Over the last two years, Delhi has retained the unique distinction of being the most polluted city in the world. The levels of particulate matter are highest, and across the country, over 7 lakh deaths occur annually due to air pollution related diseases.
"In Delhi, a majority of the pollution is caused by over 500 million tonnes of crop residue burnt annually in neighbouring areas, by polluting trucks that pass through the city during the night, road dust and pollution from industries. To add to this, the smoke from bursting of crackers in the months of October and November during the festivals of Dussehra and Diwali virtually clogs the atmosphere and increases the pollution level, magnifying the risk of contracting lung diseases."
They said every year, the adverse impact of pollution was debated and forgotten as the lethargic government machinery did little to protect citizens, especially infants and children, from the long-term toxic effects of deadly pollution.
The infants also sought directions from the court on banning burning of post-harvest crop residue, stringent action against those who dump dust, malba (concrete waste) and other pollutants and bringing in Bharat-V emission norms for motor vehicles immediately.
No comments:
Post a Comment