Lamenting severe air pollution in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR), the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan governments to file affidavits and apprise the court of steps being taken by them to curb the depleting air quality.

The apex court said that until a couple of decades ago, this used to be the best time in the national capital and now it is suffocating due to poor air quality.

The three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice SK Kaul, has asked the five aforementioned states to submit the affidavits within a week. “The concerned states should file an affidavit setting forth what steps they have taken to redeem the position. We call upon the states of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to file an affidavit within a week,” the bench said. The matter will be next heard on November 7.