Air Pollution Levels In Focus The high court on Thursday summoned the top brass of several agencies over their failure to check rising air pollution levels in east Delhi's Anand Vihar, bordering Uttar Pradesh. A bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar were shocked by photographs tabled by amicus curiae Kailash Vasudev, who visited the area on Wednesday for a spot inspection. “Photos produced by the amicus curiae indicate a different story . The authorities at the ground level have done nothing. Therefore, before imitating contempt proceedings against the authorities and its official concerned, we would like to know from them why action should not be taken against them for such behaviour,“ the bench said. It has asked commissioner of East Delhi Municipal Corporation, chief engineer PWD of the zone, DMRC project manager, additional commissioner (traffic), senior official of northern railway and also official in charge of Anand Vihar bus terminal (ISBT) to be present in court on February 16 when it will question them why required steps have not been taken despite the court's previous orders. The amicus informed the court that construction-related debris, untreated sewage, unathorised parking by auto drivers and buses, all contribute to spike in air pollution levels, posing a grave threat to residents nearby . HC agreed and observed that “From the discussion before us, it appears that one of the major contributories of the very high levels of concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in the Anand Vihar area was the result of chaotic traffic conditions leading to idling emissions as also on account of construction and roadside debris.“ However, despite its directions last month to remove encroachments from public roads, debris and optimise the traffic management, there was no progress visible in the photographs produced by the amicus, it pointed out. The court emphasised that it had issued directions to reduce levels of harmful pollutants that people are exposed to in the area which were recently found to be two to four times higher than the air pollution levels in other part of Delhi.