New Delhi
In view of the increasing pollution in Delhi NCR, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a ban on the sale of firecrackers in UP and Haryana falling in NCR. The court has banned the sale of firecrackers in both the states till further orders. In fact, on Thursday, a hearing was held in the Supreme Court regarding the increasing pollution in Delhi as well as other cities. During this, the Delhi government told the Supreme Court that the stock and sale of firecrackers has been banned in the capital throughout the year. On this, the court said that its effect will be there only if a similar ban is imposed in other cities of NCR. Therefore, UP and Haryana should also do this.
Rajasthan has also imposed ban: Court
The court said, ‘We believe that this ban will be effective only when other states forming part of the NCR region also implement similar measures,’ Live Law reported. Even the state of Rajasthan has imposed similar restrictions in the part of Rajasthan which falls in the NCR regions. At present, we direct the States of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to impose similar restrictions as imposed by the State of Delhi vide order dated 19 December 2024.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, hearing the Delhi air pollution case, reviewed measures to tackle pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR). The hearing focused on the year-long ban on firecrackers, implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
Instructions to states to form teams
Apart from this, while hearing the case related to pollution, the Supreme Court of the country ordered the states falling under the National Capital Region (NCR) to strictly implement pollution prevention measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP-4). Make sure to follow through. The court also said that teams of various officers should be formed for its implementation. These states include UP and Haryana falling in the NCR region. We direct the NCR states to constitute teams of police, revenue officials to monitor the implementation of GARP-IV measures, the bench said. We say that the members appointed in this team will work as officers of this court.
