New Delhi, Nov 11: Amid the deteriorating air quality in the national capital, the Supreme Court on Friday slammed the Delhi government over the latter's remark that it would finalise the odd-even policy after the apex court's order. It observed that the AAP government was trying to shift the burden on to the court. "Don't try to not perform and then shift the burden onto the court," it said.

 

 

 

The court questioned the effectiveness of the Delhi government's odd-even vehicle scheme. "We had asked how do taxis come into Delhi...They said we'll introduce odd-even in this also. They said they're going to wait for the SC order. But what does SC order have to do with this?" the bench said.

 

"Every little bit counts. We have a study that shows odd-even helps. Decongests roads, less traffic...Makes a difference," the Delhi government told the court. This comes two days after the apex court asked the Delhi government whether the odd-even scheme had succeeded when it was implemented earlier. "These are all optics, this is the problem," the bench had said.

 

 

 

The top court ordered to stop farm fires immediately. "We suggested a methodology; you do it however you want. But farm fires must be stopped. Some emergency measures are required to stop the farm fires," Supreme Court said.

 

The Supreme Court asked the Centre and Punjab government about what steps they are taking as a long-term measure to slowly phase out paddy to restore the water table in Punjab. "We want farm fires stopped, we want air quality to get better. It's your business how it occurs," SC said.

 

Meanwhile, the Court further observed that farmers are also a part of society and they have to be more responsible, and we have to be more responsive to their needs. "But people cannot be made to die," it added.

 

The top court said that the farmers are very well organised in Punjab and asked the government why it doesn't talk to their bodies and motivate them. "The pollution level must come down, it cannot await tomorrow," SC said.

 

Moreover, on today's rain in the national capital, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that the people have to pray only; sometimes wind comes and helps, and sometimes rain. "God may have heard the prayers of people and intervened; no thanks to the government," Justice Kaul said.

 

The apex court was hearing air pollution issue in Delhi-NCR. The bench has now posted the matter for hearing on November 21.

 

Morning showers in parts of Delhi offered marginal improvement in the toxic air that people in the national capital had been battling with over the past few weeks. The overall air quality in Delhi at 7 am today was 407, according to data by the government's air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR. The Air Quality Index recorded at 10 am was at 361 which according to the index range falls in the 'Very Poor' category but showed a slight improvement from the "Severe" category.