The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to relax emergency
measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to deal with
air pollution in the national capital, ordering it to continue till December 2.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George
Masih said the second report submitted by the court commissioners showed an
"abject failure" of authorities in implementing the GRAP IV curbs in
letter and spirit.
"We make it clear that all GRAP IV measures
except the measures which are modified in respect of the schools will continue
to operate till Monday. In the meantime, Commission for Air Quality Management
will hold a meeting and come out with the suggestion about moving from GRAP IV
to GRAP III or GRAP II. We also make it clear that it is not necessary that all
measures which are provided in GRAP IV should be dispensed with," the
bench said.
Action against officials for a "serious
lapse" in ensuring the GRAP-IV curbs needed to be expedited, it added.
The bench took note of a media report related to
Punjab wherein a land record officer and president of the Sangrur Block Patwari
Union, openly admitted to advising farmers to burn stubble after 4 PM to avoid
satellite detection.
"We are not on the correctness of this news but
if it is correct it is very serious. The (Punjab) state officials cannot permit
any farmer to take advantage of the fact that at present activities are being
detected which take place during few hours of the day. The Punjab government should
immediately issue instructions to all officers not to indulge in any such
activities," the bench said.
GRAP-4 restrictions specifically relate to
restricting entry of trucks carrying non-essential goods into the national
capital.
First implemented in 2017, the GRAP was a set of
anti-air pollution measures followed in the capital and its vicinity according
to the severity of the situation.