The Surroundings Ministry has appointed three members — two specialists from non-governmental organisations and one stakeholder from the Agriculture sector — to the Fee for Air High quality Administration (CAQM), the air monitor instructed the Supreme Courtroom Tuesday.
In an affidavit submitted to the highest court docket, the CAQM additionally listed monitoring and enforcement actions taken by the Punjab and Haryana governments to regulate farm fires. This included lodging 920 FIRs; marking pink entries within the data of 437 farmers; and imposing fines of Rs 11 lakh on offenders in Punjab from September 15 to October 20. Throughout the identical interval in Haryana, 653 farm fireplace incidents have been reported, out of which fines have been imposed in 327 instances amounting to round Rs 8 lakh, 93 FIRs have been lodged, and pink entries have been made in income data of 379 farmers.
On October 16, the SC had pulled up the Punjab and Haryana governments over non-prosecution of violators discovered responsible of stubble burning and summoned the state chief secretaries to look earlier than it on Wednesday for an evidence.
The air high quality monitoring physique is tasked with higher coordination, analysis, identification, and determination of issues surrounding the air high quality index and associated issues in NCR and adjoining areas. Based on the CAQM Act, 2021, there must be three members from NGOs having expertise in combating air air pollution and the Fee must also have a stakeholder member from the Agriculture sector.
Attributable to non-fulfillment of this standards, on October 3, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka said, “If there aren’t any true specialists within the area of air air pollution, this Courtroom must train powers below Article 142 of the Structure of India to incorporate some specialists within the area. Two posts of NGO members are nonetheless stored vacant.”
The members have been appointed to the Fee by way of an workplace order by the Surroundings Ministry issued Saturday. The NGO members are Arvind Wable, president of the Board of Trustees on the World Broad Fund for Nature India, and Dr Arunabha Ghosh, Founder-CEO on the Council on Vitality, Surroundings and Water. The stakeholder member from the Agriculture sector is Dr P Ok Sahoo, head and principal scientist within the Agriculture Engineering Division on the ICAR-Indian Agriculture Analysis Institute.
In the meantime, the Fee in its submission said that three sub-committee conferences have been held on October 8, 14 and 17 respectively on stubble burning. On account of non-compliance with the CAQM’s route within the full elimination of stubble burning, notices have been issued to 212 nodal or supervisory officers in Punjab and 372 nodal or supervisory officers in Haryana, mentioned the physique.
“The Fee famous that efficient implementation and enforcement of the motion plan to eradicate paddy stubble burning has not been forthcoming and paddy stubble burning occasions nonetheless being recorded are indicative of non-compliance of the route(s) issued by the Fee to states to implement their very own motion plans…,” said the CAQM.
