Delhi Pollution: 'Look at signal we're sending to world', says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday continued to whiplash central and Delhi governments on the issue of alarming pollution levels in the Capital.

An angry top court said it won't close the case "even if the pollution goes down now".

"This is the national capital. Look at the signal we are sending to the world," the top court told the government.

CJI NV Ramana told the Solicitor General: "Even though the pollution has come down, we are not going to close this matter. We are going to continue to give directions. Almost every day or every second day, we have to hear this. The AQI is 381 at present. Your figure of 290 may not be correct. I don’t think there is any substantial change. There may be a little less pollution, but it’s going to get serious again. Take [mitigation] measures for another 2-3 days."

On the petitioner's point that farmers are not being fined in Punjab for crop burning due to the upcoming state polls, the court said it is not concerned about elections.

"We can’t micromanage what each state is doing. You said the situation will improve. Please tell us what steps you have taken," Supreme Court asked the Centre.

After a brief respite, owing to strong winds, the air quality in Delhi had improved marginally on Monday. However, on Wednesday the AQI dropped to the very 'poor category' again. The Supreme Court is hearing the PIL on the Delhi air pollution crisis.