‘Get 15 explosives, kill people at one go’: SC pulls up Centre, states on pollution

New Delhi, Nov 25: The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the state governments of Haryana and Punjab for increase in stubble burning despite its order of prohibiting it.

"Can you treat people like this and permit them to die due to pollution," asked A bench of justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta. "The world is laughing at us. You are reducing the lifespan of people. Why are people being forced to live in gas chambers. Better to get explosives and kill them all in one go", the bench said in a strongly worded order.

Referring to the Punjab Chief Secretary, the court said: "You should explain why we should not impose fine on you for not being able to control your state. Despite our orders, it happened again. Just because you (Punjab) are not able to implement measures, it does not mean people in NCR should die and suffer from cancer."

To the Haryana chief secretary, the court said it would impose heavy monetary penalties on all officers, from top to bottom. It also noted that no action was taken since January 2018 when a panel was constituted to look into all these issues.

Upset over the steps outlined by the Haryana and the Centre, Justice Arun Mishra said "You people (States and Centre) are blaming each other. This is politically managed pollution. Everything is happening under the nose of this court and we should tolerate all of these. This is a blame game, nothing is being done. I am shocked."

"Even water pollution is a matter of politics. Blame-game goes on while people don't get clean water. It is the end of civilians' right. The world is laughing at us, for you can't even stop stubble burning," the bench said.

Delhi's air quality on Monday was recorded in the 'poor' category. According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), Delhi's air quality index was 218 at 9.10 am.