The Supreme Court on Friday directed National Capital Region states to compensate workers affected by construction bans imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to curb air pollution, reported Live Law.

The bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan clarified that the payments must be made using labour cess funds even without specific court orders, in accordance with the Minimum Wages Act.

The GRAP is a series of emergency measures that are put into place by the Commission for Air Quality Management as pollution levels rise to dangerous thresholds in the National Capital Region – which consists of Delhi and parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan – to prevent air quality from deteriorating even further.

There are four stages of GRAP with varying degrees of restrictions on construction work. Stage 4 is implemented when the air quality index (AQI) climbs to a value of more than 450 and involves a complete ban on construction activities.

“As far as 2024 and 2025 are concerned, we have issued directions to the state to pay compensation,” the court said. “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.”

The court’s November 24, 2021, order had banned construction work in the National Capital Region but permitted non-polluting activities such as plumbing, electrical work and carpentry. On Friday, the National Campaign Committee – Construction Labour argued that non-polluting construction activities should continue even during Stage 3 and Stage 4 restrictions. However, the court declined to issue such an order.

“What will prevail is GRAP measures,” the court remarked.

The court also reviewed the status of payment of compensation across states.

Haryana reported that it had already compensated 4,93,640 workers, with payments to 95,000 more 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 underway.

Rajasthan reported compensation for 3,197 workers, while Uttar Pradesh informed the court that it had compensated 9,73,094 workers.

Friday’s hearing 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.

The 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.

Also read: What is GRAP, the National Capital Region’s plan to tackle air pollution?