NEW DELHI (TIP): The Supreme Court on December 10 threw its weight behind efforts to clean up Delhi’s air, agreeing to explore various options including banning diesel cars from the Capital’s roads and stopping trucks from passing through the city to tackle the growing menace of pollution.

A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice R Banumathi expressed shock over the high pollution level in the city and directed the Centre and state government to bury their differences and prepare a mutually agreeable common minimum programme to tackle the crisis. The bench said pollution inside the court room had also gone up to 10 times the normal level.

The bench said it was time to dust off the old reports of the Bhure Lal committee, which suggested measures to curb pollution, and implement its recommendations. Referring to Delhi government’s odd-even formula, the bench said this alone could not solve the problem and multi-pronged action was needed.

“There can’t be a single solution of the problem. There has to be multi-pronged approach. All authorities including the Centre and state government should sit together along with environmental experts. There should be brainstorming session and they should come out with a solution,” the bench said.

The order comes amid spiralling pollution and could nudge the authorities in the city and at the Centre to work out an anti-pollution scheme which has wider acceptability and which they would be constrained to enforce.

“We want you to suggest short-, medium- and long-term measures to handle the situation. You must tell us the permanent solution. This is a very serious issue. Delhi is earning a bad name for being termed the most polluted city in the world. It is embarrassing for us also when foreign dignitaries point out the deteriorating air quality of the capital,” the bench said.