Taking cognisance of air pollution reaching an alarming level in the national capital and its adjoining areas, especially the NCR region, the National National Human Rights Commission on Friday directed the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to remain present before it either personally or on hybrid mode on November 10, for a detailed discussion on steps taken to address the issue.
As per a statement issued by NHRC, the Chief Secretaries were expected to inform the Commission within a week positively before this discussion about the steps taken by their respective governments to stop the burning of stubble in their regions.
The Delhi Chief Secretary was directed to inform the Commission about the effect of smog towers and the number of anti-smog guns, which were currently operational in the national capital.
The Chief Secretaries were asked to explain in detail the steps taken so far or to be taken in future by the concerned governments for tackling the issue.
The reports from the States of both Punjab and Haryana must also specifically inform about the effect of the scheme of in-situ management of crop residue, it added.
The Commission issued these directions on the basis of a report and the material on record received from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), in response to its notice issued on June 22 this year.
NHRC had issued notice to the Ministry, after taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, alleging that air pollution was a great threat to human health in India, reducing overall life expectancy by five years and 9.7 years for the people in Delhi.
The MoEF&CC report mentioned several steps being taken by the Centre as well as the State governments to reduce air pollution levels.
It said the Ministry has implemented the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for reducing levels of air pollution in non-attainment cities (NACS) of the country since January 2019 with a target to reduce the particulate matter concentration by 20-30 percent by 2024.
An overall improvement in ambient air quality has been observed in 75 cities and no significant change or increase in 14- cities during 2021-22 has been noted as compared to 2019-2020.
However, 18 cities, which were within the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standard (PM10 less than 60 µg/m3) in 2019-20, have shown an increase in air pollution in 2021-22, added the report.
Appreciating the efforts taken to address the issue, the Commission observed that the steps were not adequate and left room for much more to be done to bring down the pollution levels immediately.
Citing Article 47 of the Constitution, which reposed the duty upon the state to raise the standard of living and improve public health, NHRC observed that despite several directions from time to time, nothing much has improved and one of the major causes of air pollution in Delhi and NCR region still remains the burning of crop residue or stubble in the states surrounding NCR.
Besides, any disturbance in basic environment elements, such as air, water and soil, which are necessary for life, could be hazardous to life within the meaning of Article 21 of the Constitution, it added.
The human rights body said with the Winters approaching, it cannot remain a mute spectator of the situation affecting the human rights of the common citizens.
The Commission further said that despite several directions of the Supreme Court, National Green Tribunal and other authorities, the air quality in Delhi-NCR has not seen required improvement for a human-friendly environment, which cannot be allowed to remain so perpetually and summoned the Chief Secretaries with action taken report.