6 months ago
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The Supreme Court connected Monday (November 3, 2025) directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to record an affidavit detailing the steps it has taken truthful acold to forestall air contamination successful Delhi-NCR from deteriorating further.
A seat comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, which was proceeding the M.C. Mehta case, said that the authorities indispensable enactment proactively and not hold for contamination levels to scope a "severe" stage.
Senior advocator Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the seat arsenic an amicus curiae, flagged media reports indicating that respective aerial prime monitoring stations successful Delhi were not functioning during the Diwali period.
"There are newspapers aft newspapers saying that monitoring stations are non-functional. If the monitoring stations are not adjacent functioning, we don't adjacent cognize erstwhile to instrumentality GRAP (graded effect enactment plan)… Out of 37 monitoring stations, lone 9 were functioning continuously connected the time of Diwali," she said.
The amicus urged the seat to guarantee that CAQM submits wide information and an enactment plan.
She said the earlier orders mandated pre-emptive measures, alternatively than reactive steps, erstwhile contamination worsened.
"The CAQM is required to spot connected grounds an affidavit arsenic to what steps are projected to beryllium taken to forestall the contamination from turning severe," the Bench said successful its order.
The counsel for the CAQM said that the Central Pollution Control Board is liable for monitoring data.
However, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati assured the seat that the agencies acrophobic volition record the required report.
On October 15, the CJI-led seat permitted the merchantability and bursting of greenish firecrackers successful Delhi-NCR during Diwali with conditions aimed astatine balancing contented with biology and wellness concerns.
The tribunal had made it wide that usage of greenish crackers volition beryllium confined to circumstantial hours connected Diwali and a time before. The merchantability of greenish crackers were permitted from October 18 to 20.
It had besides made wide that the relaxation was lone connected a "test lawsuit ground and it shall beryllium lone for the play specified".
Significantly, the seat had said, "The Central Pollution Control Board, successful consultation with the State Pollution Control Boards and their respective determination offices wrong the districts coming nether the NCR, shall show the aerial prime scale successful their respective jurisdictions starting from October 14, till October 25 and record a study earlier this court, specifying the aerial prime of each time indicated hereinabove...
"Along with specified monitoring, the Regional Offices of the State Pollution Control Boards shall besides instrumentality samples of soil and h2o from sites with much density of usage for analysis," the seat had said.
