SC criticizes Delhi government and police for executing Grapa | Latest Delhi News

With Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) briefly improving to below 400 this week (it rose again to 401 at 6 pm on Friday), the court will consider easing restrictions under the Gradified Response Action Plan (Grap) on Monday. . . Until then, he ordered tighter controls on vehicles entering Delhi.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih noted the “apparent failure” of the Delhi Police and the state government to enforce key provisions of the GRAP Phase 4 restrictions that came into force on November 18.

In Stage 4, which is the highest level of pollution control measures, all trucks except those carrying essential items are banned from entering Delhi. Exceptions include trucks delivering essential perishables, petroleum products and other critical goods, as well as trucks that are electric or comply with the latest BS-VI exhaust emission standards.

The court has come up with a new monitoring mechanism by appointing 13 young lawyers as judicial commissioners – one at each major entry point into Delhi – to collect photographic and video evidence of compliance with the ban on the entry of heavy trucks and light commercial vehicles (LCVs). They will submit reports on November 25.

“On Monday we will consider the issue of considering the continuation of GRAP 4 and the report of the commission members, as well as other issues related to the continuation of GRAP 4,” the board said.

The court expressed concern about the lack of controls at Delhi’s entry points. While senior advocate Shadan Farasath, representing the Delhi government, said trucks are being monitored and targeted at the borders, he admitted that CCTV is in place at only 13 major entry points and there is little or no surveillance at the remaining 100 points.

“It is difficult for us to imagine that the entry of trucks will be stopped. The people manning the checkpoints don’t know which cars to stop. All this is done in the form of an arbitrary exercise, which makes the restrictions meaningless,” the panel noted.

The court ordered the immediate establishment of checkpoints at all 113 entry points with clear instructions to personnel regarding tax-exempt categories such as essential goods and services. Before Monday’s hearing, he also requested CCTV footage from 13 controlled locations.

The court expressed serious concern over discrepancies in stubble burning data after amicus curiae Aparajita Singh cited government data showing a significantly larger “total area burned” than fire reports would suggest.

Singh cited a report showing that the burnt area in Punjab increased from 15.1 lakh hectares to 19.1 lakh hectares and in Haryana from 21 lakh hectares to 24 lakh hectares. This is in stark contrast to official data showing only 1,084 fires in Punjab and 419 in Haryana between September and October 21.

“We need clarification on this because these are government officials. There is something more to this, since the total area of ​​burned areas is completely different from the number of fires,” the panel noted.

The discussion of the discrepancies follows earlier concerns that farmers could rely on stubble burning to avoid detection by NASA satellites, which fly by between 10am and 1.30pm.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, defended the monitoring system, saying geostationary satellites are less reliable due to lower resolution. She said that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has asked ISRO to develop new protocols for studying burnt areas.

Senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Singh suggested that oversight of the CAQM be established through a committee comprising former Supreme Court judges with experience in handling pollution cases. Although the court did not support the creation of another expert commission, it expressed its willingness to include such individuals in the CAQM.

The panel will consider lifting the GRAP 4 restrictions on Monday after reviewing the judicial commissioners’ reports. He also agreed to look into concerns raised by parents through senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy about the impact of school closures on disadvantaged students and children with special needs.

The case relates to a public interest litigation filed by environmental activist M K Mehta. The court plans to consider the various pollution factors separately in the coming weeks, with extensive hearings likely to take place in January, subject to the chief justice’s approval.