Supreme Court judge 'shocked' at lawyer's response on construction ban amid worsening AQI

Delhi’s air plunged to hazardous levels on Monday with the Air Quality Index (AQI) surpassing 700 in a few areas

With air quality in Delhi-NCR touching alarming levels, the Supreme Court on Monday urgently directed all the NCR states to form teams to activate GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) 4 restrictions and asked them to keep them in force even if the AQI is below 450.

During the hearing, a bench of Justices AS Oka and AG Masih pulled up the Commission for Air Quality Management and the Delhi government for not implementing curbs under the GRAP in time.

The apex court then took stock of the restrictions being implemeted under GRAP 4.

"Now ban on construction and demolition activities ... who is monitoring this? Is somebody going to the site and checking?" Justice Oka asked.

To this, a senior advocate replied that construction was under way outside the Supreme Court at that very moment.

"Construction is going on outside court 11 inside Supreme Court right now. Stones are being broken, construction is on and dust is up on the air," he said.

The response shocked Justice Oka, who said: "What? Flash a message requesting secretary general to come to court. Just call him."

Delhi’s air plunged to hazardous levels on Monday with the Air Quality Index (AQI) surpassing 700 in a few areas and staying above 450 in several parts of the national capital.

The counsel for the Delhi government informed the Supreme Court that stage 4 of GRAP has been implemented from Monday and heavy vehicles have been banned from entering the national capital.

First implemented in 2017, the GRAP is a set of anti-air pollution measures followed in the capital and its vicinity according to the severity of the situation.