Work for installation of smog tower in Delhi has started: Centre to SC

The Centre Monday told the Supreme Court that work for installation of smog tower at Anand Vihar in east Delhi has started and soil samples have been taken for examining the structural stability.

Smog tower is a structure designed as large-scale air purifier to reduce air pollution.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra that an memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed for the project of installation of smog tower and IIT Bombay and Tata Projects Limited are in touch with University of Minnesota for transfer of technology.

The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari, was informed by Mehta that as on August 8, site survey has been done and soil samples have been taken and are being examined.

Meanwhile, the bench refused to entertain the contention of an intervenor, who had filed an affidavit raising questions over the effectiveness of smog tower and claimed that money for it would ultimately go to Chinese companies.

The bench said it would hear the issue of smog tower tomorrow (Tuesday).

Besides this, the top court also dealt with the issue of pollution from stubble burning in states including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The bench asked the chief secretary of Punjab, who was present in the hearing conducted through video-conferencing, about the steps taken in providing machines and equipment to small and marginal farmers to prevent instances of stubble burning there.

The chief secretary of Punjab told the bench that subsidy is being provided to these small and marginal farmers but they are facing shortage of funds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bench asked the Centre's counsel to apprise it about the subsidy and also about implementation of its orders passed in the matter earlier.

It also asked other stakeholders to give detailed report on the issue of stubble burning.

The bench, which observed that policies need to be put in place now to prevent stubble burning, asked whether Panchayats have been roped in for spreading awareness of various projects for prevention of stubble burning.

It said if the authorities will not take proper steps, then the issue of stubble burning would continue in times to come.

It also sought affidavits on the steps taken by the concerned authorities in dealing with pollution hotspots in the region.

The top court asked Punjab government to apprise it about the steps taken to deal with industries which were found non-compliant with pollution norms.

The bench asked Delhi's chief secretary, who was also present in the hearing, about the steps taken to deal with pollution, including from stubble burning.

Delhi's chief secretary said that several steps have been taken to reduce traffic congestion and also to deal with open waste.

The bench also dealt with the issue of vehicles running on kerosene and said that Centre should formulate rules for preventing it and also confiscate such vehicles.

On August 4, the top court had asked the Centre to "start at the earliest" the work for installation of smog tower at Anand Vihar.

The government had then informed the bench that setting up of smog tower would take 10 months.

The solicitor general had told the apex court that supervision of the project work would be done by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay while funding would be provided by the government.

The apex court had earlier questioned the Centre as to why its January 13 order, directing the project to be completed within three months, was not complied with.

It had earlier expressed shock at IIT Bombay's backing out of the smog tower project and said this was "not expected of such institutions.

Earlier, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Central Pollution Control Board had filed an affidavit in the top court and claimed that the MoU was not finalised as IIT Bombay has not agreed to take responsibility of overall coordination of project and verification of works to be carried out by Tata Projects Limited, which has been involved by IIT Bombay for construction, operation and maintenance of smog tower.

It had said that funds amounting to Rs 18.52 crore have been sanctioned for the project.

In the stubble burning issue, the top court had last month asked governments of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan about the arrangements made by them for preventing it.

These issues have cropped up before the apex court during the hearing in pollution matter in which it is dealing with several aspects.

In November last year, the apex court had expressed serious displeasure over the failure of state machinery in preventing stubble burning and said that citizens of Delhi-national capital region were "suffocating" due to air pollution and people cannot be left to die in a "gas chamber".