SC slams Punjab, Haryana for stubble burning despite its orders

The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Punjab and Haryana governments for increase in stubble burning despite its order prohibiting it and said people in Delhi can’t be left to die due to air pollution. Expressing displeasure over the failure of States in preventing stubble burning, the court said, “Should this be tolerated? Is this not worse than internal war? You better finish them all with explosives.” A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta said the life span of millions of citizens has been shortened and people were “suffocating” due to pollution in the Delhi-NCR. “Can you treat people like this and permit them to die due to pollution?” the bench asked. “Why people are in this gas chamber? You better finish them all. This wrong is going on for long,” it said. The Supreme Court slammed the Centre and States for the “blame game” on the issue of water and air pollution in Delhi. Taking serious note of the water pollution in Delhi, it said people have the right to get pure drinking water. “We are ‘literally shocked’ that water is polluted in Delhi and the blame game is going on,” the bench added. Multiple reports sought The court then issued a notice to all States, seeking reports on air quality, drinking water and garbage disposal. It also sought a report from the Central Pollution Control Board and the States concerned about the steps taken to check pollution in rivers, including Ganga and Yamuna. The court termed as alarming the stubble burning situation and said not only the State machinery but farmers were also responsible for it. It asked the Centre and others to take a concrete decision within 10 days on having smog towers in Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution. The bench asked Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to explain why they should not be asked to compensate people affected by bad air quality. Source: The Hindu