In a hearing over the pollution crisis in Delhi, the Supreme Court said this is no way for people to survive and said it will fix liability on state governments.
The SC-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority declared public health emergency Friday, following which Delhi govt decided to shut all schools.
Kejriwal’s Delhi govt said effective stubble fire counts in Punjab & Haryana increased to 2,577 in the last 24 hours, pushing air pollution levels to severe.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
The contention of the Punjab Chief Secretary that stubble burning contributes only 8% to the N India pollution is so much hogwash. Viewing of openly available satellite pictures shows very clearly that the N India smog originates in Punjab.
He himself says polluter pays. So The farmers of Punjab and Haryana should pay. Apparently they cannot pay because they are heavily indebted. Then they should not grow rice. Persuading them is the bounden duty of the Hon (or dis-Hon?) Chief Secy. He would certainly be within his rights to ask for a budget to do a persuasion campaign and much bigger budget for turning the alternate crop into ethyl alcohol.
If any one has doubts I refer them to Shekhar Gupta’s analysis of the whole issue.
Given the stressed condition of most farmers, they may not be in a position to pick up the entire tab. In principle, Delhi should not mind contributing financially to the solution. Consider the purely economic – quite apart from the health – impact of such poor air quality.
Air, water, forests and wildlife must be treated as national assets and central government should be held accountable for their maintenance (or lack of it). India needs an environmental agency that can investigate and take corrective action on such issues, overriding any interference by the states. Biosphere and environment cannot continue to be a state subject because the slogan of ‘Swaach Bharat’ has been a vision from the top. Let the citizens of India get evidence of realisation of that vision.
In fact, cooperative federalism alone can solve such complex problems, sharing of river waters being another example. Nor does one subscribe to the theory that it is necessary for the same party to be in power at the Centre and the concerned states to secure optimal results. There should be one silo, operated once in five years, for winning an election, forming the government. Beyond that, this is a complex, diverse nation that requires different groups to work harmoniously together, with the Centre playing a coordinating role. 2. On this issue, the CMs of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi should be ad idem.
The contention of the Punjab Chief Secretary that stubble burning contributes only 8% to the N India pollution is so much hogwash. Viewing of openly available satellite pictures shows very clearly that the N India smog originates in Punjab.
He himself says polluter pays. So The farmers of Punjab and Haryana should pay. Apparently they cannot pay because they are heavily indebted. Then they should not grow rice. Persuading them is the bounden duty of the Hon (or dis-Hon?) Chief Secy. He would certainly be within his rights to ask for a budget to do a persuasion campaign and much bigger budget for turning the alternate crop into ethyl alcohol.
If any one has doubts I refer them to Shekhar Gupta’s analysis of the whole issue.
Sorry. I should not have said (dis-Hon?).
Given the stressed condition of most farmers, they may not be in a position to pick up the entire tab. In principle, Delhi should not mind contributing financially to the solution. Consider the purely economic – quite apart from the health – impact of such poor air quality.
Air, water, forests and wildlife must be treated as national assets and central government should be held accountable for their maintenance (or lack of it). India needs an environmental agency that can investigate and take corrective action on such issues, overriding any interference by the states. Biosphere and environment cannot continue to be a state subject because the slogan of ‘Swaach Bharat’ has been a vision from the top. Let the citizens of India get evidence of realisation of that vision.
In fact, cooperative federalism alone can solve such complex problems, sharing of river waters being another example. Nor does one subscribe to the theory that it is necessary for the same party to be in power at the Centre and the concerned states to secure optimal results. There should be one silo, operated once in five years, for winning an election, forming the government. Beyond that, this is a complex, diverse nation that requires different groups to work harmoniously together, with the Centre playing a coordinating role. 2. On this issue, the CMs of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi should be ad idem.