The Supreme Court on November 7 directed the State governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi to ensure that stubble burning is “forthwith” stopped as an immediate measure to protect the lives and health of people.
“Pollution is not a political game where one State shifts the blame to another depending on the ruling political dispensation… This [pollution] is a murder of the health of the people. You see children in Delhi suffering from health issues,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.
As a long-term measure, the Bench of Justices Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia agreed with the submission made by the Punjab government to take steps to incentivise farmers to switch over from paddy cultivation to alternate traditional crops like millets by offering them the minimum support price (MSP).
