Taking a serious view of the ‘life threatening high pollution in Delhi-NCR’, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday sought reports, within two weeks, from various Central government ministries and the Governments of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab about the ‘effective steps taken and proposed to be taken by them to tackle the situation’.
Taking a serious view of the ‘life threatening high pollution in Delhi-NCR’, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday sought reports, within two weeks, from various Central government ministries and the Governments of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab about the ‘effective steps taken and proposed to be taken by them to tackle the situation’.
Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports in this regard, the NHRC came down heavily on the authorities, observing, ‘It is apparent that the concerned authorities have not taken proper steps throughout the year to tackle this hazard, which amounts to violation of the Right to Life and Health of the residents in the region.’
In its order, the NHRC asked the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, give details about the preparedness of the government hospitals to attend to the people affected by pollution.
Underling the need for proper implementation of the environmental laws, the Commission said, ‘The state cannot leave its citizens to die due to toxic haze. There is a need for an effective study by the experts and proper implementation of their recommendations, including short-term and long-term measures identified. There is also a need for preventive medical check-ups for the people.’
Noting that the ‘toxic smog’ had become an annual health hazard, particularly, at the time when winters are about to start, the Commission observed that several reasons had been mentioned for the pollution. These include pollution caused by the vehicles, particularly trucks and heavy vehicles running on diesel, dust due to construction work going on in the Delhi-NCR region, burning of stubble by farmers in the Punjab and Haryana.
‘The proposal for alternative roads to link the highways to avoid entry of heavy vehicles inside the cities have been under contemplation but no effective steps in this regard have yet been taken,’ it noted.
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