New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the federal and Delhi governments to submit time bound plans to tackle pollution in the national capital, which it said has become “gas chamber.”
The court has given them until December 21 to submit their reports.
The current air pollution levels in the national capital have reached “alarming” proportions and living here is like “living in a gas chamber,” the court said a day after the National Green Tribunal slammed the Delhi government for not acting “seriously” on mounting pollution problem.
The NGT had also directed the Delhi government to issue a notification within a week listing the most polluted areas in the city.
The bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva dismissed the action plans filed by the environment ministry and the Delhi government as “not comprehensive” because they did not contain specific responsibilities of each authority and the timeline for carrying them out, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The court “expressed displeasure over unchecked rising pollution in Delhi.”
“The level of PM 2.5 has crossed level of 60, then why hasn’t the government done anything to curb it?” the court asked.
PM 2.5, particulate matter with size less than or equal to 2.5 microns, is considered the smallest and the deadliest pollutant.
In seven out of 10 monitoring stations of the Central Pollution Control Board across Delhi, PM 2.5 was found to be the major pollutant. The permissible limit for PM 2.5 is 60 micro grams per cubic meter.
The court also wanted to know why the government had not taken action to ban burning of garbage.
The Delhi Traffic Police, in an affidavit filed in the court Thursday, said they have identified 14 places in Delhi where pollution levels are high due to large volumes of vehicular traffic. These locations include the road from IIT flyover to Panchsheel, Ashram and the stretch from Gurgaon to Dhaula Kuan.
The court also asked for an air purifier to be installed at the High Court premises.