SC REJECTS YEAR-ROUND GRAP CURBS, SEEKS LONG-TERM PLAN

Supreme Court declines permanent GRAP bans, urging coordinated long-term solutions for pollution.

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Batting for a long-term solution to Delhi-NCR's persistent air pollution crisis, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to impose year-round restrictions on activities prohibited under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the region's emergency pollution-control framework.

The bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria instead directed Punjab and Haryana to strictly implement the Commission for Air Quality Management's (CAQM) recommendations on stubble burning - a key contributor to winter smog.

"If the CAQM's suggestions to Punjab and Haryana are implemented, stubble burning can be adequately tackled. Both states must meet and ensure scrupulous implementation," the bench said.