Building resilience to reduce air pollution
1. REGULATORY AUTHORITIES
disposal of cases on environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources. This includes enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property or any connected matters. It is a specialised body expert in handling environmental disputes involving multidisciplinary issues and is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, but it is guided by the principles of natural justice. Besides the above, courts in India have undertaken the task of preserving the environment by turning watchdogs and imposing stringent penalties on the offenders and violators under the various environment related statutes in force.
Existence of air pollutants causes serious health and environmental hazards such as smog, acid rain, damage to crops and trees and property damage and therefore the need for effective management becomes inevitable. TheAir (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (Act) bestows various powers and functions to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to tackle the problem of air pollution. The CPCB launched a nationwide programme called the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) formerly National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAAQM) and has identified three air pollutants, (SO2, NO2 and Respirable Suspended PM) for regular monitoring at all the locations. The monitoring of meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, relative humidity and temperature was also integrated with the monitoring of air quality. The government is taking proactive measures to curb air pollution by ensuring co-operation and collaboration between different departments. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was established in 2010, under the NGTAct 2010 (NGT Act), for effective and expeditious
2. THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY TO COMBAT AIR POLLUTION IN DELHI
The Supreme Court is trying to alleviate the problem for example, by phasing out polluting cars, 26 using cleaner alternatives to traditional petrol, 27 encouraging the government to convert government vehicles from diesel/petrol to eco-friendly electric vehicles and banning certain automobiles. When referring to a World Health Organization study, the Supreme
25 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/sc-wake-up-or-youll-have-zero-groundwater-by-2020/ articleshow/64953385.cms http://www.thinkenvironment.in/coverage-90-of-delhi-in-critical-zone-as-groundwater-level-dips-1645 26 M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, W.P. (Civil) 13029 of 1985, decided on October 24, 2018 27 M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India, (1999) 6 SCC 9
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