Supreme Court warns vehicle exhaust drives heavy smog across Delhi NCR

Vehicle exhaust is driving severe air pollution across the Delhi-National Capital Region, with the Supreme Court calling for immediate, medium-term and long-term action as the air quality index touches four hundred.

Traffic And Stubble

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, pointed to heavy, bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads linking Delhi to nearby cities such as Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad. The bench observed that festival periods provide daily wage earners their primary window to make a living outdoors, leaving them particularly exposed to the toxic air. On farm fires, the judges stressed teaching farmers to use modern machinery instead of setting crop residue alight.

Official Steps

Representing the central government, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati detailed actions across five major areas: industrial emissions, vehicular pollution, construction and demolition dust, road dust and stubble burning. Ms. Bhati noted that stubble burning caused fourteen percent of the city's pollution on Thursday, while measures such as vehicle entry bans, geo-tagged pollution certificates and social media complaint tracking are already active. The court will resume hearings on November 16 after the Diwali break.

Context

Delhi-NCR regularly experiences sharp drops in air quality during winter months due to a combination of local emissions, crop stubble burning in neighbouring states and cold weather trapping pollutants close to the ground. The region relies on multi-layered emergency action plans to curb exposure, though enforcement and compliance remain persistent challenges for authorities.