November 17
Delhi Air Pollution…
Hearing has started in the Supreme Court on Delhi air pollution issue in NCR.
During this, the Center said through an affidavit that the vehicles being used by the Center in the national capital are a small part of the total vehicles. Banning these vehicles will not make any difference to pollution. The Center has advised its employees to resort to carpooling instead of using private vehicles for commuting to and from office, so that the number of vehicles on the road can be reduced.
Central government is not in favour of work-from-home for its employees, the Supreme Court was told today. It is said by Centre that, it will “not be (of) much benefit and effect”.
In its affidavit, the government said,”… In the recent past, several governmental functions were impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic for substantially a long period of time which entailed pan India ramifications.”
Apart from this, the Center has mentioned in its affidavit the report of the Air Quality Management Commission for Delhi-NCR. In this report, to improve the level of Delhi air quality, there has been a demand for ban on the entry of trucks in Delhi till November 21.
The report states that only trucks carrying essential commodities should enter Delhi. Apart from this, it has also been mentioned to ban thermal plants and construction works.
The Punjab government, in an affidavit given before the hearing, said that there is a need to encourage farmers to stop burning stubble. For this the MSP should be increased by Rs 100 per quintre, but the Center is not doing so. At the same time, the Haryana government also demanded a ban on stubble burning. The government said that some thermal power plants have also been closed.
