In a bid to save Delhi from the choking air pollution , the Supreme Court on Monday asked the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to immediately stop their farmers from stubble burning. and warned that their entire administrative and police hierarchy, from the Chief Secretary to the sarpanch to the local policeman, will be held responsible even if one instance of stubble burning occurs in the future.
“There cannot be a mass exodus from Delhi. .. People have to live in Delhi, which is the national capital. People cannot be just evacuated from here... No room inside a house is safe in Delhi. Even inside the house it is polluted. Can we survive like this? How long can we survive on air purifiers. We are losing precious years of our lives... It is writ large that various State governments, civic bodies have failed to discharge their liabilities. It is time to fix liability... This is a shocking state of affairs,” an exasperated Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta said.
“Who is responsible for stubble burning? State governments are responsible! They are only interested in electioneering. They have to be made liable in tort. We are making a mockery of everything,” a visibly anguished Justice Mishra said.
