India's top court Tuesday banned the use of petroleum coke - a cheap but dirty fuel - in New Delhi's neighbouring states, the latest crackdown aimed at improving air quality in one of the most polluted cities in the world. The Supreme Court also ordered a ban on the sale and use of furnace oil - a polluting refinery by-product - in industries in the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan starting November 1.
Furnace oil and pet-coke are the dirtiest by-products from the refinery process and use of these fuels was banned in Delhi in 1996. But glass manufacturing units and other industries around the Indian capital continue to be reliant on them for their energy needs. Delhi experiences suffocating smog every year around Diwali when farmers in north India burn the stubble left behind after the harvest and revellers let off smoke-spewing firecrackers.