Pollution killing people, they must help curb it: SC

Just a week after warning the Arvind Kejriwal government not to "test the patience" of Delhiites forced to travel in crowded and inadequate public transport, the Supreme Court on Thursday supported the odd-even rule.
It said the people must cooperate with the enforcers to help make the attempt to reduce pollution successful. A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi came down heavily on a young advocate complaining of the hardship suffered by lawyers in commuting from one court to another during the odd-even regime and seeking exemption for advocates.
The bench said, "People are dying of pollution, which has reached alarming levels in the national capital. The government is trying to do something to reduce the pollution level. We are cooperating with the odd-even car rule. People's cooperation is a must if the attempt is to make any dent on the pollution level. And here you are filing a frivolous public interest litigation to garner some cheap publicity ."
When the counsel said he was also trying to help reduce pollution, the bench said, "You are not helping but attempting to impede implementation of the odd-even car rule. These are cheap publicity stunts."
However, the SC was not unaware of the difficulties faced by commuters during the fortnight long implementation of the odd-even car rule, breaking of which carries a hefty Rs 2,000 fine.Many commuters have complained of unusual rush in Metros during peak hours even as the 3,000 odd additional buses requisitioned by the Delhi government are running virtually empty during the fortnight.
CJI Thakur said the court was keeping a close watch on implementation of the rule."We are taking stock of the situation and if we find that commuters are subjected to hardship, we will direct the Delhi government to augment the city bus fleet. We have already requested Delhi Metro to increase the frequency of trains during peak traffic hours," he said.
The counsel repeated that advocates were finding it difficult to commute.
To this, the CJI sternly said, "If the young lawyer is finding it difficult to comply with the odd-even rule or finding it difficult to commute from one court to another, then please advice him to change his profession." .
"Govt & Delhiites, not fines, behind success of scheme"
The Delhi high court on Thursday had also credited Delhiites and the AAP government for the success of the odd-even scheme.Saying that it clicked as it had appealed to the people and not because of the stiff Rs 2000 fine imposed on violators, a bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said it has had some "good side-effects", including reduction in congestion on roads. The court credited the government for successfully publicizing the concept and making it appealing to the masses.