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Supreme Court suggests halting tolls at Delhi borders to cut pollution, expands vehicle emission crackdown, but leaves school closures to experts. Could these bold moves finally ease Delhi’s choking winter smog?
Consider suspending toll booths at Delhi borders
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday suggested suspending toll collection at Delhi’s borders during the peak winter months to help reduce vehicular pollution. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant emphasized that revenue generation should not take precedence when air quality in the national capital reaches alarming levels. “We do not want income from tolls in such severe pollution,” he remarked.
The apex court proposed that tolls remain suspended until January 31 this year and recommended that in future, toll collection could be halted annually from October 1 to January 31, coinciding with the period of highest pollution.
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The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) accepted the notice issued by the court. The bench suggested relocating nine toll booths currently managed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to areas where NHAI staff can oversee operations. A portion of toll revenue collected by NHAI could be shared with MCD to offset temporary losses. Additionally, the court recommended that toll plazas on national highways be spaced at least 50 kilometres apart, rather than every 5–10 kilometres, to ease congestion and reduce pollution near city limits.
Authorities were asked to examine the possibility of temporarily suspending operations at nine toll plazas around Delhi and report a decision within one week. The court stressed that urgent administrative action is needed to balance environmental concerns with infrastructure management.
The Supreme Court clarified that decisions on school closures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) fall under policy and expert bodies, not the judiciary. CJI Surya Kant stated, “School attendance or non-attendance itself can become a problem. This decision must be left to specialists.” The court acknowledged concerns about repeated closures disproportionately affecting children from economically weaker sections.
The court also expanded the scope of action against vehicles in the Delhi-NCR region. Authorities can now target vehicles that fail to meet Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission norms, including older and highly polluting vehicles, while ensuring compliant vehicles are not harassed.
With these measures, the Supreme Court aims to address Delhi’s persistent air pollution through a combination of administrative action, policy guidance, and stricter regulation of high-emission vehicles.
