Air pollution in Delhi causes at least eight premature deaths every day, with almost 3,000 people dying every year because of related diseases, the Supreme Court told the Centre on Monday. A bench of the apex court led by Justice MB Lokur quoted a 2008 study by the Environment Pollution Control Authority to Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar during a hearing on a plan for phasing out the use of furnace oil and petroleum coke by industries around the Capital, The Hindu reported.

The bench refused Kumar’s request seeking eight weeks to come up with such a plan and ordered the Centre to stop the use of the pollutants in four weeks. The court also asked the Central Pollution Control Board and the EPCA to meet with Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh government officials to formulate a plan to check pollution in the National Capital Region, Hindustan Times reported. “We must have a plan to ensure pollution doesn’t take place at all,” the bench said.

The court also permitted the CPCB to withdraw Rs 2.5 crore from the Environment Protection Charge fund to set up air quality monitoring stations in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP. Kumar assured the court that the systems would begin operations by May this year. The bench also directed the EPCA to inspect Pollution Under Check centres in the NCR. In January, the EPCA rolled out its Graded Response Action Plan for Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region. The plan uses different measures to tackle different levels of pollution in Delhi and the NCR.