Concerned about the continuous stubble burning in the some northern states, Delhi government said that it may approach courts to seek their intervention. The statement was issued by Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain saying that the stubble will deteriorate the ambient air quality of the national capital.
"In case effective steps to mitigate the menace of stubble burning are not initiated by the respective state governments, the Delhi government may be left with no other option but to knock the doors of appropriate courts of law to seek their intervention and seek directions for time bound effective actions by the Centre and concerned state governments," the government stated in a statement.
According to the officials, farmers in neighbouring states are finding it more convenient and cheaper to pay fines for stubble burning instead of measures needed for avoiding such burning. Hussain wrote a letter to Union Minister of Environment Harsh Vardhan on Friday requesting to direct neighbouring state such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to take air pollution control measures due to crop residue burning.
Earlier, it was predicted that a dust storm will hit the national capital which would further deteriorate the air quality, but, at present, there are no indications of a big storm. Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, a senior official at the Supreme Court mandated body Environment Pollution Control Authority said.
"I have been consistently writing to the Union Minister of Environment & Forest and Climate Change to convene high level meetings with the Chief Ministers and Environment Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan & Delhi in this regard," Hussain said.
Ambient air quality of Delhi is now witnessing a gradual decline. Apart from adverse metrological phenomenon- low/ negligible wind speed, major reason is agricultural waste/ stubble burning in neighbouring NCR states, particularly Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan etc. This situation adversely affects the health and well-being of the people of Delhi especially the children, old people and people affected with respiratory and heart ailments.
