SC heat on states over crop residue burning, questions efficacy of odd-even

Directs Delhi, 4 neighbouring states to stop it immediately

The Supreme Court on Tuesday raised an alarm over the worsening air quality in Delhi, saying the Delhi government’s “odd-even” scheme for containing it was mere “optics”, and it directed five states, including Delhi, to stop stubble burning.

Under the odd-even scheme, vehicles with licence-plate numbers ending in an even digit are allowed to operate on even dates (such as November 8), while those ending in odd digits can run on odd dates.

“You have said that you have imposed alternative cars (even-odd). Did it succeed earlier? These are all optics; this is the problem,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul told the Delhi government.
 

The court directed the governments of Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi to take steps to immediately stop stubble burning by farmers. The court has asked the chief secretaries of these states to meet on November 8 and submit a report by November 10. It said the responsibility for preventing crop burning would be on the station house officers, directors general of police, and chief secretaries of these states.

“We want it (stubble burning) stopped. We don’t know how you do it, it’s your job. Something has to be done immediately,” Justice Kaul told Advocate General (AG) of Punjab Gurminder Singh.

The court, while taking into consideration the submission of Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, who is Amicus Curiae (friend of the court), said the odd-even scheme was unscientific.

“To get over this situation we had suggested orange tags for diesel vehicles and blue tags for CNG (compressed natural gas) and petrol vehicles. It has been rolled out. Now, all the cars have hologram stickers on the dashboard, (by which) you can identify whether the car is a diesel or a petrol car. More scientifically, it would be to ban orange stickers (cars) rather than banning CNG cars,” Singh said.

Singh had suggested the state should impose restrictions on vehicles based on colour-coded stickers instead of the odd-even rule.

“Learned Amicus Aparajita Singh points out that in order to control vehicular pollution, the colour-coded sticker was envisaged … it appears that the same has been implemented only by the Delhi government while it has to be implemented even by the adjacent states. No compliance report has been filed. The states (have) to obtain instructions. It is thus suggested that the Delhi government is seeking to impose restrictions on the basis of ‘odd-even’. Singh submits that it is really an unscientific manner and … instead vehicles with orange stickers can be banned,” the Bench, comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, observed.

The court told the Delhi government to report to it on the restrictions imposed based on colour-coded stickers.

It also said while the colour-coded scheme had been implemented by the Delhi government, it shall be done by the adjacent states as well.

The Court observed there might be ‘n’ number of taxis in Delhi that had registrations in different states. It told the Delhi government to ensure that only taxis registered in Delhi ply in the city.

The court has directed the government to place before it how the environment compensation charge has been utilised.

Stubble burning

The court told the Delhi government to ensure that municipal solid waste was not burnt in the city during the open as it happened.

Meanwhile, the Punjab AG, pointing out that farmers burnt stubble due to their poor financial conditions, suggested the Centre provide subsidies to provide the required facilities.

“It is his suggestion that an endeavour should be made and an alternative solution is provided free of cost ... He simultaneously states that the central government can bear 50 per cent of this cost (of the required facilities) and we do believe when the Centre provides so many other subsidies, there is no reason why this cost should not be borne,” the Bench noted.

The AG suggested paddy cultivation (in Punjab) be phased out and the Centre consider giving minimum support prices for other crops.