Supreme Court Orders Immediate Action on Delhi-NCR Pollution Control Vacancies

The Supreme Court has criticized the ineffectiveness of Delhi-NCR's pollution control boards due to staff shortages. It has directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to explain how it plans to tackle pollution and stubble burning. All five NCR states have been instructed to fill vacant posts urgently, with a deadline of April 30, 2025.

The Supreme Court has slammed the Delhi-NCR pollution control boards as 'ineffective' due to severe staff shortages, urging immediate action to tackle the growing menace of air pollution and stubble burning.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih has ordered the Chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to explain their strategy in a virtual hearing. The state's pollution control boards have numerous vacancies, crippling their effectiveness, according to the court.

The court mandated that all five NCR states—Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh—fill their vacant posts urgently by April 30, 2025. The bench also called for an affidavit from the CAQM detailing the measures to be taken against air pollution, attributing the worsening air quality mainly to stubble burning in agriculture-intensive regions.

(With inputs from agencies.)