Channi also appealed to farmers to refrain from stubble burning in future, "as it is hazardous both for the environment as well as human health" besides hampering the fertility of the land to an enormous degree.
Supreme Court directed the Centre to call for an emergency meeting tomorrow over issues like stopping construction, non-essential transport, power plants, and implementing work from home to deal with air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The matter has been adjourned for November 17.
The process of burning farm residue is one of the major causes of air pollution in parts of north India, deteriorating the air quality around this time of the year.
The Chief Justice said stubble burning may be part of the problem, but not the only issue behind severe air pollution in the capital.
Delhi recorded 'severe' air quality for three days on the trot till Sunday due to accumulation of emissions from fireworks on Diwali and crop residue burning amid unfavourable meteorological conditions -- low temperature, wind speed and mixing height.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that farmers cannot be blamed for unrestrained crop residue burning as the government has failed to provide an alternative.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has repeatedly blamed stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the air pollution in the national capital.
Incidents of crop residue (parali) burning in other states and the air quality in Delhi are linked as deteriorating air quality figures show, Rai said at a press conference.
According to an official report released by the Delhi government, the contribution of stubble burning to the city's PM 2.5 pollution was recorded at 36 per cent as of Friday. This is the highest emission so far this season.
Ministry of Earth Sciences' forecast body SAFAR said the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded as 350, which falls in the 'very poor' category with PM2.5 as the lead pollutant.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said Delhi has provided a solution to the problem of stubble burning in the form of microbial solution Pusa bio-decomposer and it will be distributed for free in all Punjab districts like the AAP government has been doing here.
UP CM also said that having cleared Rs 1.42 lakh crore cane arrears pending since 2010, his government would now enhance the state support price of cane after consulting all the stakeholders in this regard.
The Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry has informed the Supreme Court that 'active fire events' (AFE), or stubble burning, have increased by nearly 45 percent in Punjab, and reduced by 25 percent in Haryana when compared with 2019.
Stubble burning has stopped now but Delhi's air pollution situation remains serious, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Friday urging the Arvind Kejriwal government to take swift action on the complaints forwarded to it by the CPCB.
Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai on November 24 said that stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab over last 15 days played a major role in poisoning Delhi's air.
After the national capital saw more than a 100 Covid-19 deaths for four consecutive days, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monda attributed the high COVID-19 death rate in the city to the pollution caused by stubble-burning and expected a downtrend in it in the next two-three weeks.
Health Minister of Delhi, Satyendar Jain on November 23 blamed stubble burning for Delhi's situation on COVID-19.
The newly-appointed Commission for Air Quality Management on Monday said it will take required steps to curb air pollution in the national capital, including formulation of appropriate policies and strategies to control stubble burning.
Delhi's air quality was recorded in the "poor" category on Thursday as the share of stubble burning in the city's pollution increased to 20 percent.
The levels of air pollution during Diwali this year were found much higher as compared to the last year while a significant dip was found in noise pollution level, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed on Sunday.
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