Supreme Court Raps Delhi, Punjab Governments Over Air Pollution

India’s capital city Delhi is grappling with severe air pollution, as the air quality remains in the “very poor” category. Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court about worst air quality in the national capital.

The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday sharply rebuked the Delhi and Punjab governments over severe air pollution in the national capital.

A bench of Justices S.K. Kaul and S. Dhulia while hearing a clutch of petitions about air pollution in Delhi every winter asked both the states to take action against the burning of agricultural waste.

Notably, the governments in Delhi and Punjab are led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The court also asked Punjab government to offer measures of support to farmers in terms of settling agricultural waste so that they don’t burn it and it doesn’t deteriorate air quality in the state as well as neighbouring Delhi further.

The top court also asked Punjab government to take cue from Haryana and provide financial assistance to farmers so that they don’t burn stubble. The apex court also suggested that farmers who are burning stubble should be deprived of Minimum Support Price (MSP) benefits as a part of the economic repercussions of their actions.

Source: Sputnik