The National Green Tribunal came down heavily on the Delhi government for not filing a comprehensive action plan on ways to deal with severe air pollution in the city and slammed authorities for holding the India-Sri Lanka cricket match despite bad air quality.
During the hearing, the Delhi government said it needed more time to file the action plan as the chief secretary and environment secretary have been recently changed.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, however, directed the government to file the report within the next 48 hours.
The tribunal had on November 28 asked the city government and four neighbouring states – Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to submit an action plan on tackling pollution.
The third Test between Sri Lanka and India was disrupted yesterday due to choking smog. The Sri Lankan cricket team had complained of poor air quality that forced India to declare their innings.
The tribunal also pulled up the city government for not introducing odd-even car rationing scheme at this point of time when the air quality is severe.