A total of 17 areas across the city reeled under 'severe' air quality with index values above 400, with Anand Vihar recording highest pollution level with index value of 442 at 6 pm.
“Why are the states shying from prosecuting people for stubble burning and allowing them to escape with nominal fines," the bench remarked.
Without naming anyone, Cong leader Pawan Khera said the issue should not be "politicised" and effective steps needs to be taken to tackle it.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed the bench that the University of Minnesota is the licensee sharing the scope of deliverables and transfer of technology and submitted that a joint affidavit has been filed by the Centre and the Central Pollution Control Board. The IIT-Bombay and TATA Projects have tied up with University of Minnesota as it is a patent-protected innovation, he added.
In a letter to DPCC, the monitoring panel said the shocking pictures of women standing knee-deep in foaming, polluted Yamuna to offer prayers have got extensive media coverage and have gone viral on Twitter with 'very damaging comments.'
The air-quality across the NCR was very poor, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
Noting that private vehicles contribute to 40 per cent pollution in Delhi-NCR, the EPCA urged people to reduce use of private vehicles.
