The Supreme Court on Friday expressed displeasure over the poor implementation of the Stage 4 measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi to tackle the worsening air quality.
The GRAP-4 curbs have been implemented in Delhi since Monday after the air quality index deteriorated to ‘severe+’ for the first time this season.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih held that the Delhi government and the city police failed to ensure strict implementation of these measures, especially related to restricting entry of trucks carrying non-essential goods into the national capital.
The apex court appointed 13 lawyers as court commissioners to visit the various entry points in Delhi to ascertain whether restrictions on entry of trucks were implemented or not.
The court will take up the matter on Monday when it will decide whether or not to ease the GRAP-4 restrictions in view the drop in air quality index levels.
During the hearing on Friday, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the bench that the pollution level had dropped in the last two days.
The overall AQI in Delhi remained in the "very poor" category being recorded at 373.
The GRAP-4 restrictions were implemented after the AQI rose sharply to 457 on Sunday evening. Under these measures, no trucks will be allowed into Delhi except for those carrying essential items or using clean fuel.
Non-essential light commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi have been prohibited, except for EVs and CNG and BS-VI diesel ones. Also, construction activities at public projects have been temporarily halted.
The apex court had earlier questioned the Delhi government over delay in implementation of GRAP-4 measures, and said it would not allow scaling down of the preventive measures without its prior permission.
