1000 FIRs and Rs 1 Cr fine: UP Chief Secretary to SC on steps to curb stubble burning

Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari on Monday, November 25, informed the Supreme Court that around 1,000 FIRs have been registered and a fine of around Rs 1 crore has been imposed against stubble burning in the State. The apex court wanted to know the number of districts in which stubble burning takes place in UP. Tiwari apprised the Court that stubble burning takes place in 30 districts, including eight districts in the National Capital Region (NCR).

READ | NGT Directs Delhi Govt To Shut Down 4,774 Industries In Residential Areas Immediately

Coming down heavily on the Chief  Secretary Justice Arun Mishra said, "Stubble burning has increased, why should we not penalise you (Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary) and your machinery? We are not going to spare you now, everybody should know we are not going to spare anyone of you." The court asked the Secretary to take positive actions and not coercive ones against stubble burning. Satellite images reveal farmers have resorted burning crop residue in Eastern UP choking cities across the Ganga plains.

READ | SC Directs Centre & Delhi Govt To Keep Differences Aside; Plan For Air Purifiers Sought

SC lashes out at governance problem

On Monday, November 25, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and Delhi government to keep their differences aside and come up with a plan for installing air purifiers in the national capital within 10 days. This comes after the Delhi Chief Secretary stated that there was a “governance problem” in Delhi due to the constant tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government. The SC questioned the Centre on why people were being forced to live in “gas chambers”. The bench termed it as “politically managed pollution”.

READ | Supreme Court Takes Suo-moto Cognizance On Issue Of Water Pollution In Delhi

'People are laughing at our country'

Contending that Centre and the Delhi government were blaming each other for water and air pollution, the Justice Arun Mishra opined that people were laughing at India because of this. He observed that the political parties were not taking the problem of pollution seriously. Moreover, Justice Mishra highlighted the rampant corruption in government agencies. Earlier in the day, the SC pulled up the Punjab and Haryana governments for not doing enough to control pollution. The bench issued a warning that officials could face heavy monetary penalties for their inability to curb stubble burning.

(With ANI inputs)

READ | Terror Strike Averted: Delhi Police Arrests 3, Busts ISIS-inspired Terror Module