SC asks CAQM for report as Capital's air gets worse

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to submit a report on the preemptive steps being taken to prevent further deterioration in the Capital's air quality.

- Abraham Thomas

A haze shrouds Red Fort early on Monday.

(Sanchit Khanna/HT)

The direction comes amidst the body’s inertia in responding to the Capital's bad air despite reports of lapses in measuring the Air Quality Index, and its reluctance in following last year's court direction on the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), citing a very technical interpretation of that, as reported by Hindustan Times on Monday.

The CAQM subcommittee did not hold a meeting on Monday, with an official aware of the matter citing an improvement in the AQI. "The AQI has improved by over 50 points.

Therefore, Stage 2 will continue," the official said. Stage 2 measures have been in force in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) since October 19, when the AQI first crossed 300.

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) at 4pm on Monday stood at 309 (categorised as "very poor"), and the fall from Sunday, when it was 366, can be explained by meteorological phenomena (including wind speed and direction). Still, gaps in the readings starting Diwali weekend, reports of efforts to reduce AQI readings in individual stations by sprinkling water outside them continually, and an analysis in Hindustan Times on October 31 that highlighted the gaps between satellite measures of pollution and the readings, have raised questions about the representativeness of the publicised AQI measure.

CAQM has not responded to the worsening pollution.

This was pointed out to the court by senior advocate Aparajita Singh assisting the court as amicus curiae. She said CAQM, which is the statutory body responsible for taking steps to curb pollution in Delhi and adjoining areas, is duty-bound under past orders passed by the court to take pre-emptive measures by implementing emergency measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).