The Supreme Court gave its nod to the Delhi government that it can take action against owners who are using vehicles below the BS IV (Bharat Stage 4) emission standard in the NCR region.
SC targets polluting vehicle
The top court’s order aims to strike a balance between environmental concerns and the protection of vehicle owners who comply with prescribed emission standards, while enabling authorities to take action against more polluting vehicles in the NCR.
Earlier, the top court orally observed that the measures taken by authorities so far have been a “total failure” in effectively curbing rising levels of air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.
SC calls for long-term pollution plan
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked that any meaningful reduction in pollution would require broader, long-term planning rather than ad hoc responses.
With respect to various petitions highlighting the inadequacy of recent measures aimed at protecting children, such as the Delhi government’s directives to shut schools or allow them to function in a hybrid mode, the Court noted that these were merely temporary policy decisions taken by the authorities to mitigate health risks.
SC refuses to interfere in Delhi Govt’s decision
Thus, the bench refused to interfere with respect to the decision of the Delhi government to direct the shutting of schools or the hybrid model of schools.
“The short-term measures are only to provide temporary protection to children and elderly persons. These are purely interim policy decisions. At best, they can be viewed as an extension of vacations, as schools are anyway scheduled to remain closed for 10 to 15 days during the winter,” the Court observed.
SC asks MCD to consider closing Toll plazas
As regards another issue raised by the counsel representing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) regarding the congestion of traffic at nine toll-plazas in the bordering areas of Delhi NCR that add to the vehicular pollution, the Supreme Court asked the MCD to consider shutting down those toll-plazas for a three-to four-month period (from October-January) when the air-pollution levels are at their highest.
The counsel representing MCD submitted that the issue with shutting the toll plazas would be that MCD would not be able to receive its toll collection from passenger vehicles entering and exiting Delhi for the said period.
