Diwali is the festival of lights…
not the festival of sound (and pollution).
Keeping this in mind, the
Honourable Supreme Court of India has issued an order on the ban on selling of fireworks in the NCR till 1st
November, 2017. This means that there is no
ban on bursting of fire crackers.
There are many good reasons that
has been cited for this move. First and foremost being the deterioration of the
air quality in and around Delhi. Secondly, this almost coincides with the
season of crop burning in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab.
Lastly, the smog situation in Delhi during winters, despite having the largest
fleet of CNG buses and 100% Green Metro (DMRC) and temporary closure of coal
based Badarpur Thermal Power Plant. This is not a revelation. This is a
constant reminder of the fact of the failure of the central and state
governments to tackle this multi-directional cumbersome problem. CPCB (Central
Pollution Control Board) and SPCB (State Pollution Control Board) are toothless
tigers that have been entrusted to monitor the air-quality. In case of Delhi,
CPCB is supposed to send a daily air quality report to EPCA (Environment
Pollution Control Authority) that is supposed to implement the “Graded Response
Action Plan” formulated by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest in
January, 2017. The State Secretaries have been designated as the Nodal Officers
for the implementation.
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| Courtesy: Hindustan Times |
Many believe, it is too little,
too late – including me.
We need to have an overarching
plan to combat the pollution, not just in Delhi. This is a basic governance
problem that has not be effectively alleviated, resulting in the Supreme Court
to step in. In this context, much has been highlighted in the media about the petition
received on behalf of 3 children last year, that has resulted in passing of
this order.
But will this achieve the desired
results? Is it not a judicial overreach?
We need to understand that this
is a temporary measure, just like the highly debated odd-even scheme. Secondly,
why target just Diwali as the festival and why not also include crackers as a
whole across all occasions including marriages, Christmas and New year? This
shows that the issue is being addressed in a piecemeal approach. Thirdly, why
not ban bursting of crackers as well? Fourthly, the livelihood, GST and various
other factors have already hit the informal sector hard enough. This will also
result in lower income of this population segment engaged in fireworks
production. Fifthly, despite 1,200 kg of illegal fireworks seizure since SC ban
on the sale, those enthusiastic enough will buy on black market or from places
outside of NCR. Lastly, once the fireworks are bought, do the Indian government
have actually enough manpower and effort to actually validate whether it was purchased
legally?
On the aspect of Judicial
overreach, while it is understood that the honourable SC was passing the
judgement on the petition submitted by the children last year; should it not be
the responsibility of taking the government, the CPCB, SPCB and EPA to task and
grill them why the situation remains grim with respect to pollution, especially
in NCR that the air is unbreathable and remains at 999 on AQI? The SC may have all
the good intentions at the core, but also needs to ensure that the respective agencies
entrusted to protect the environment along with the Government are doing their
job. Also, just banning the sale and not the bursting of crackers is another
example why this order will have limited impact on the pollution.
To conclude, Judicial Activism is
good and important in the Indian democratic context. When this turns into
Judicial Overreach – primarily due to the failure of Government institutions,
this becomes a problem. The current SC order, in this case seems to be a
classic catch 22 situation where there is a very fine line drawn between Judicial
Activism vis-à-vis Judicial Overreach. As someone said, “Like beauty, Activisim
lies in the eyes of beholder!” So, you the reader – be the judge of this
situation…
