Don't care how, but we want stubble burning to stop immediately: SC to Punjab government

The Supreme Court of India Tuesday ordered the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government to stop the stubble burning and said air pollution in national capital, Delhi can’t become a political battle all the time. The apex court further emphasised that the choking air quality is responsible for the “murder of people’s health”. The court observed that the burning of crop residue in Punjab and Haryana, neighbouring states to the national capital, is a key factor behind the massive spike in Delhi’s air pollution every winter. “We want it (stubble burning) stopped. We don’t know how you do it, it’s your job. But it must be stopped. Something has to be done immediately,” the Supreme Court told the lawyer of the Punjab government. “We do not care how you do it..it must stop. Whether by sometimes forceful actions and sometimes by incentives…You have to stop the fire. Your administration must do so. Your local SHO must be held responsible.. from today onwards they must start working on it,” the court told the government of Punjab. On Monday (November 6), Punjab reported over 2,000 farm fires as farmers continued to set crop residue ablaze. According to Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data, 2,060 fresh stubble-burning incidents were recorded in Punjab, taking the total number of such cases to 19,463 till Monday. As per data cited by PTI, stubble-burning incidents reported from November 1 to November 6 constituted 61 per cent of the total such cases in the current season. The total stubble-burning incidents of 19,463 registered from September 15 till November 6 was 35 per cent less than 29,999 such cases in the corresponding period last year, the data stated. The state had reported 32,734 farm fires during the same period in 2021. SC slams Delhi government The Supreme Court also directed Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP governent in Delhi to ensure that municipal solid waste is not burnt in the city during the open as it happens. The court also noted that the smog towers installed by the government in the national capital as per the earlier directions was not working. Terming the situation ’ludicrous’, it directed the Delhi government to take immediate steps to repair the smog towers. The matter will be heard next on Friday. The court has said it will also look at vehicular emissions, another key contributor to Delhi’s air pollution. With inputs from agencies