The Supreme Court today took on record that the implementation of the Odd-Even scheme has not contributed to reducing the pollution levels in Delhi NCR..This observation was recorded by the Court despite the Delhi government submitting that pollution levels in the capital reduced by over 5-7% after the implementation of the Odd-Even scheme..The Court also noted that the governments of Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab have failed to take necessary steps to curb pollution levels, owing to which it has yet again the sought personal presence of the Chief Secretaries of these States on November 29.The Court was also informed that the cut-off date from when the air quality in Delhi started moving from moderate to poor, severe, and further downhill is October 10.Justice Arun Mishra, who is on the Bench alongside Justice Deepak Gupta, said that this is not an adversarial litigation, but a matter that concerns everyone.“The pollution is not going, the AQI is nearly 600 today. How do people breathe?”.The Court posed the question of what the Odd-Even scheme was achieving, to which Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi responded that the effect of the scheme on pollution reduction is subdued on account of other polluting factors still at play.Rohatgi told the Court that the Odd-Even scheme would have worked better if there were no relaxations under the scheme. Rohatgi said that the scheme has contributed to the tune of 5% in reduction and majority of the pollution itself is contributed by activities such as stubble burning.He wanton to ask,“Should we not implement something to reduce pollution even a little bit? Should we not attempt to do something just because it had minimal effect?”The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) presented figures before the Court that suggest that cars contribute to only 3% of the pollution and major factors in Delhi are garbage disposal, dust, and construction activities. To this, Justice Deepak Gupta remarked,“We can control pollution, but we can’t control the nature.” The Court suggested that the Odd-Even scheme is more likely to work if no exemptions are given. Affluent families own multiple cars and devise methodologies to skirt the Odd-Even scheme by ensuring that the woman of the house drives the car that is exempted and the man drives the car that is covered under the scheme, the Court pointed out.The Supreme Court recently began hearing a matter relating to the effectiveness of the Odd-Even Scheme. Subsequently, the Court had directed the Delhi government to furnish day-to-day AQI data pertaining to Delhi till November 14.The Bench had also previously passed a number of directions to tackle the issue of stubble burning, a major cause of the air pollution plaguing Delhi NCR and other regions in North India.
The Supreme Court today took on record that the implementation of the Odd-Even scheme has not contributed to reducing the pollution levels in Delhi NCR..This observation was recorded by the Court despite the Delhi government submitting that pollution levels in the capital reduced by over 5-7% after the implementation of the Odd-Even scheme..The Court also noted that the governments of Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab have failed to take necessary steps to curb pollution levels, owing to which it has yet again the sought personal presence of the Chief Secretaries of these States on November 29.The Court was also informed that the cut-off date from when the air quality in Delhi started moving from moderate to poor, severe, and further downhill is October 10.Justice Arun Mishra, who is on the Bench alongside Justice Deepak Gupta, said that this is not an adversarial litigation, but a matter that concerns everyone.“The pollution is not going, the AQI is nearly 600 today. How do people breathe?”.The Court posed the question of what the Odd-Even scheme was achieving, to which Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi responded that the effect of the scheme on pollution reduction is subdued on account of other polluting factors still at play.Rohatgi told the Court that the Odd-Even scheme would have worked better if there were no relaxations under the scheme. Rohatgi said that the scheme has contributed to the tune of 5% in reduction and majority of the pollution itself is contributed by activities such as stubble burning.He wanton to ask,“Should we not implement something to reduce pollution even a little bit? Should we not attempt to do something just because it had minimal effect?”The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) presented figures before the Court that suggest that cars contribute to only 3% of the pollution and major factors in Delhi are garbage disposal, dust, and construction activities. To this, Justice Deepak Gupta remarked,“We can control pollution, but we can’t control the nature.” The Court suggested that the Odd-Even scheme is more likely to work if no exemptions are given. Affluent families own multiple cars and devise methodologies to skirt the Odd-Even scheme by ensuring that the woman of the house drives the car that is exempted and the man drives the car that is covered under the scheme, the Court pointed out.The Supreme Court recently began hearing a matter relating to the effectiveness of the Odd-Even Scheme. Subsequently, the Court had directed the Delhi government to furnish day-to-day AQI data pertaining to Delhi till November 14.The Bench had also previously passed a number of directions to tackle the issue of stubble burning, a major cause of the air pollution plaguing Delhi NCR and other regions in North India.
