Supreme Court reprimands CAQM for failing to control stubble burning, seeks report in a week

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has reprimanded the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for failing to control stubble burning incidents. The apex court stated that the commission has not taken any significant steps to implement its directives to prevent these incidents. The bench, comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih, noted that CAQM has not registered a single case against stubble burning in Delhi and surrounding regions, despite holding a meeting on the matter on August 29. The court also pointed out that only five out of eleven members attended the meeting, where the issue of enforcing the directives was not even discussed.

The Supreme Court also criticized the governments of Punjab and Haryana, stating that they have collected minimal compensation from farmers involved in stubble burning. The court has directed the Centre and CAQM to file an affidavit on the matter within a week, and scheduled the next hearing for October 16.

Earlier, CAQM had informed the court that it has deployed flying squads in 16 districts of Punjab and 10 districts of Haryana to monitor stubble burning during the paddy season. Additionally, coordination cells for stubble management will soon be established in Mohali and Chandigarh to improve cooperation between the states and the Centre. CAQM officials mentioned that central teams will investigate stubble burning cases in districts like Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Mansa, Moga, Muktsar, Patiala, Sangrur, and Tarn Taran in Punjab.