The Supreme Court of India directed the states within the National Capital Region (NCR)—namely Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan—to compensate construction workers affected by bans imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to control air pollution on Friday.
The bench, comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, emphasised that these payments should be made using labour cess funds, in accordance with the Minimum Wages Act, even in the absence of specific court orders.
The GRAP is a set of emergency measures implemented by the Commission for Air Quality Management as pollution levels in the NCR escalate to hazardous levels. It consists of four stages, each prescribing varying degrees of restrictions on activities, including construction work. Stage IV, the most severe, is enforced when the Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeds 450 and entails a complete ban on construction activities.
The court’s decision builds upon its earlier order from November 24, 2021, which had mandated the payment of wages to affected workers using funds collected as labour cess.
The bench reiterated that compensation must be paid whenever construction activities are halted due to GRAP measures, stating, “We make it clear that hereafter whenever the construction activities are required to be closed due to implementation of GRAP measures, compensation shall be paid to the affected workers in terms of directions issued by this court dated 24th November 2021. Even if there is no specific direction of the court to pay compensation, the NCR States shall pay compensation.”
During the proceedings, the court reviewed the status of compensation payments across the NCR states.
Haryana reported that it had already compensated 493,640 workers, with payments to an additional 95,000 workers underway for restrictions imposed in January.
Delhi submitted that 93,272 construction workers had received payments, while the verification process for the remaining registered workers was ongoing. Rajasthan reported compensation for 3,197 workers, and Uttar Pradesh informed the court that it had compensated 973,094 workers.
The court also addressed concerns over vehicular pollution. Amicus curiae Aparajita Singh informed the court that several authorities had not submitted affidavits on steps taken to curb traffic emissions as directed on January 20. The court noted that only the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Ministry of Heavy Industries, and the state governments of Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana had complied. It directed the Supreme Court Registry to issue fresh notices to non-compliant entities, requiring them to file affidavits within a month, and assigned the Commission for Air Quality Management to compile the submissions.
This case is part of the long-running MC Mehta litigation on pollution management in Delhi NCR, which covers issues such as vehicular emissions, transport pollution, solid waste management, and stubble burning.
