Delhi HC raises concern over poor air quality

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday told the forest department it was responsible for the capital’s air quality and must take steps to ensure that the Air Quality Index (AQI) here improves.

The Delhi HC asked the principal secretary of the forest department to fill the vacancies on a “war footing”. You are responsible for the quality of the air we breathe. It is your obligation to ensure AQI comes down, the court said.

Justice Jasmeet Singh, while dealing with issues of the creation of an alternative forest in Delhi and filling up vacancies in the department, remarked that children were suffering from asthma due to breathing polluted air. Encroachment, he said, was taking place in the ridge area, considered the lungs of the national capital, “right under the nose” of government officials.

Justice Jasmeet Singh further added that the residents of Delhi have the fundamental right to clean air to breathe, and greenery goes a long way in doing that.

The senior official informed the high court that the department was going to undertake “eco-restoration” of 136 acres of “deemed forest” land in Isapur near the Haryana border. Yamuna floodplains were being ecologically rejuvenated and restored by various authorities, he added.

The court was also assured that steps will be taken to complete the recruitment process for various vacant posts in the forest department. The matter would be heard next on November 8.