“How Can You Wait?”: Supreme Court Pulls Up Authorities As Delhi Gasps

As Delhi’s air quality plunged to the ‘severe-plus’ category this morning, the Supreme Court today pulled up authorities over the delay in implementing tough restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to tackle the capital’s bad air days.

The court also told the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the national capital region and the Delhi government that restrictions under Stage 4 of GRAP — implemented after Air Quality Index crosses the 400 mark — must not be relaxed without its permission even if AQI drops below 300.

The bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice AG Masih asked the authorities why GRAP 3 was implemented three days after the AQI crossed the 300 mark. When the Centre’s counsel replied that they were tracking whether the AQI dips, the court said, “Once it reaches, it has to be invoked… how can the applicability of stage 3 be delayed anyhow… how can you wait for three days?”

The court then said, “We are making it very clear that you will not go below Stage 4 without our permission now even if AQI goes below 300, that is the order we are proposing.”

When the matter was taken up later in the day, Justice Oka asked again why the authorities waited for AQI to improve as per IMD predictions. “Instead of anticipating that AQI will cross (300 mark), the approach is that they will wait and see that AQI will go down. After 418, you waited for a day to bring in stage 3,” the bench told the Centre.

The court then asked the Delhi government to file an affidavit regarding implementation of curbs under the emergency response plan.

In its order, the Supreme Court said that the sub-committee of CAQM adopted a “wrong approach” in implementing GRAP 3 and GRAP 4 curbs. “The commission cannot wait for improvement in AQI. It should take steps in anticipation,” the bench said. It asked all states in the National Capital Region to enforce GRAP 4 restrictions and to set up committees to monitor their implementation and ensure strict compliance.

“We make it clear that till further orders of this court, implementation of stage 4 shall continue even if AQI falls below 450. All state and central govt to file compliance affidavit by Thursday,” the court said.

CAQM has a four-step Graded Action Response Plan to tackle Delhi’s bad air days. GRAP 1 is invoked when the AQI is in poor category. Under this category, water is periodically sprinkled on roads, open burning of waste is banned and use of diesel generations is restricted. Under GRAP 2, enforced when AQI crosses the 300 mark, water is sprinkled on roads daily, uninterrupted power supply is ensured so that use of generators can be avoided, parking charges are hiked to discourage private transport and service of CNG and electric buses and Metro are stepped up.

The next stage of curbs, GRAP 3, is enforced when AQI crossed 400. Polluting vehicles in Delhi and other cities in the National Capital Region are banned and governments may take a call on online classes for primary students. Mining, stone-crushing and construction/demolition activities are prohibited under GRAP 3.

GRAP 4, which is currently in force, kicks in when AQI crossed the 450 mark. Commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi are banned from entering the capital unless they are EVs, CNG or they conform to BS-VI norms. Decisions can also be taken on discontinuing physical classes for senior classes too.