POLLUTION

Over 2000 Delhi Construction Sites Fined for Violating Anti-Dust Guidelines

Massive dust emerging from Ghazipur landfill in Delhi. (Anindya Chattopadhyay/TOI, BCCL, Delhi) — Massive dust emerging from Ghazipur landfill in Delhi.
(Anindya Chattopadhyay/TOI, BCCL, Delhi)

As many as 2,146 constructions and demolition sites in the national capital have been penalised for violating the Delhi government's anti-dust guidelines.

A fine of Rs 382.06 lakh has been imposed on them for the same.

Inspections of the 22,764 construction and demolition (C&D) sites were carried out in 19 days by 585 teams deployed by the Delhi government to keep a check at such sites to curb the dust pollution.

The data was shared in a compiled Action Taken Report (ATR) prepared by the Department of Environment & Forest, showing the figure from November 17 till December 6.

Earlier on November 14, the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) had advised the states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to shut down schools and halt construction and demolition activities this week for the districts falling in the National Capital Region (NCR) to minimise the impact of severe air pollution on the citizens.

Since then, a ban has been imposed and lifted quite a few times depending on the severity of the air pollution. However, on November 29, all the construction and demolition activities in the national capital were banned until further orders.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had made the announcement following orders from the CAQM and added that financial assistance of Rs 5,000 to the construction workers for the time being.

According to the Delhi government report, to limit the dust pollution arising due to manual sweeping, a total of 1,134 mechanised road sweeping machines with water sprinkling facilities have been deployed across the city.

Additionally, 60 anti-smog guns and 8,588 water tankers or sprinklers have been placed in the national capital. Moreover, 4,245 sites using diesel generator sets were inspected till December 6, of which 48 were found using the sets, 18 were shut down, and a fine of 5.4 lakh was imposed for not adhering to the anti-dust pollution guidelines.

In the month of October, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) banned the use of diesel generator sets and ordered enhancing of parking fee by up to four times in Delhi-NCR. This measure was listed under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) when the air quality settled in the 'very poor' category.

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The above article has been published from a wire agency with minimal modifications to the headline and text.

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