NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has asked construction companies and agencies for the geographical locations of large construction sites to inspect if they are using anti-smog guns installed on highrises and are taking measures to curb pollution.
The government has also decided that mechanised road sweeping will be done over a wider area.
A senior government official said the companies would have to send Google coordinates which will be examined by the ground staff of environment and other agencies from time to time.
According to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas guidelines, there should be at least one anti-smog gun on a site with a built up-area of 5,000-10,000 sqm, two in those of 10,000-15,000 sqm, three in 15,000-20,000 sqm and at least four in those above 20,000 sqm.
The government’s has also identified more road length for mechanised road sweeping.
The environment department has said mechanised sweeping should be done for 7,963 km per day. Currently, the average road length where mechanical sweeping is done is 2,705 km a day, which is 34% of the road length of the city. The average road dust collected per day, through mechanical road sweeping machines is 136 metric tonnes per day. A senior official said, “The procurement of 18 mechanised road sweeping machines has been approved and more will be added.”
The official said that more than 90 high-rise buildings have been identified where anti-smog guns would be placed. “We have also directed hotels and shopping complexes to deploy anti-smog guns,” he said.
Currently, the guns are installed on 56 government buildings, among them those of MCD, PWD and 233 others at large construction sites.
“On private buildings, 50 have been installed and 24 more are in the process of being put up. Also, funding to PWD has been done for procurement of 200 more mobile anti-smog guns,” he said.
Another 60 mobile anti-smog guns were given to MCD by the environment department for hotspots such as Anand Vihar, Mundka, Narela, Bawana, Wazirpur, Rohini, RK Puram, Okhla, Jahangirpuri and Punjabi Bagh.
The air quality in Delhi has shown an improvement this month.
According to the Delhi government green application, pollution because of construction and demolition ranks at the top with dumping of construction and demolition waste constituting 1,876 complaints, and dust pollution because of construction was behind 856 complaints
The government has laid down several guidelines for these construction sites. Vehicles carrying construction material and construction debris should be fully covered. Tarpaulin or green net should be on scaffoldings around the area under construction and the building. Regular water sprinkling also has to be done.
