Poor air quality in Delhi unacceptable: Delhi High Court

NEW DELHI: Terming as "unacceptable" that majority of kids in the Delhi were suffering from respiratory problems owing to poor ambient air quality, Delhi High Court today said it intends to take up the issue of air pollution if the Supreme Court is not already dealing with it.

"Look at the poor ambient air quality in Delhi. There are lot of factors contributing to it. Over 50 per cent of children in the national capital are suffering from respiratory problems. This is unacceptable," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said.

"If no one is looking into it, then it is high time we did. We intend to take it up suo motu," the court said and asked the lawyers appearing for Delhi Development Authority and Delhi Pollution Control Committee to inform the bench within two days if the apex court was dealing with the issue of air pollution.

The bench said it decided to take up the issue suo motu as it had come across a news report which said that Delhi was the most polluted city in the world. It also asked as to which were the authorities concerned that were responsible for dealing with air pollution.