‘If one can run in Delhi, they can run anywhere’

: “If anybody can run a marathon in Delhi, they can run it anywhere,” the Delhi High Court remarked on Friday as it assessed the level of pollution in the city. The court was of the view that the government should issue an advisory as heart patients or other vulnerable people can suffer.

Though it did not pass any order to that effect, a Bench of Justices B.D. Ahmed and Jayant Nath observed that “the government should issue an advisory” when senior advocate Kailash Vasudevan informed it about the Delhi Half Marathon on November 20 during the hearing.

Fireworks

During the hearing on various causes of pollution, the Bench said: “I don’t understand why the State does not hold fireworks. Once on July 4, I was in the US. The State had organised fireworks at select places. People would go to those locations and watch for free. And they were all good fireworks and not those spurious Chinese ones.”

As many as 40,000 taxis in Delhi and 35,000 with All-India permit and inter-State taxis and buses coming to Delhi from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh still run on diesel.

Taking note of the same, the Bench ordered, “The all-India permit granted by these States for taxis to ply should also be streamlined to convert diesel to CNG.”

The court has sought “clear-cut action plan” from these States in this regard.

Stubble burning

“Stubble burning is virtually over this year. But this problem would arise again next year,” said the Bench while asking the State to indicate its action plan to eliminate the problem completely.

Punjab alone produced 17million tonne of paddy straw of which only a small percentage was utilised for paper and cardboard making or for converting into energy or fertilizer.

The court asked CPCB to ascertain how much of paddy straw per metric tonne ends up as PM 2.5 and PM 10 and other obnoxious gases. Mr. Vasudevan also showed photographs and clips from his visit to Bhalswa where fire raging from the landfill is a common sight. The court directed the municipal corporation to extinguish the fires with immediate effect.