NEW DELHI: Cracking down on construction sites violating pollution norms even after the enforcement of stages III and IV of the Grade Response Action Plan, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it had inspected over 5,500 construction sites this month till Nov 25, identifying 420 sites as noncompliant with dust mitigation guidelines.
MCD identified 367 sites measuring less than 500 square metres that failed to implement the specified dust control measures. While three sites were issued closure notices, the others were levied environmental compensation charges for the violations.
At sites exceeding 500 sqm, 53 were found non-compliant or had failed to register on the mandatory. One was given a closure notice while the rest were asked to pay environmental compensation charges.
“In total, we inspected 4,181 construction and demolition sites in the 500 sqm category and found violations at over 350 places. We also visited 1,368 plots bigger than 500 sqm and discovered 53 sites violating CAQM guidelines or following norms, which is why environmental compensation was imposed. At one site, we issued a closure notice,” said an official.
In comparison, from April to Oct, MCD booked 1,372 C&D sites for violation of GRAP norms and imposed a penalty amounting to Rs 2.7 crore, of which Rs 16.8 lakh has been realised.
Under the Stage III of GRAP, dust-generating or air pollution-causing C&D activities are banned. These include earthwork for excavation and filling, including boring and drilling works, piling works, all demolition works, laying of sewer lines, water lines, drainage and electric cabling, etc., by open trench system, brick and masonry works, painting or polishing, road construction activities, and major repairs.
Under Stage IV, in addition to the restrictions under Stage III, work on public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, over bridges, power transmission, pipelines, telecommunication, etc., are also halted.
MCD constituted 372 surveillance teams comprising 1,295 officers to check open burning, illegal C&D waste dumping, adherence to norms at C&D sites and to monitor dust on roads. “They go on inspections regularly. We also have dedicated teams to check burning of waste, including at night. However, so far, not a single challan has been issued for this offence,” revealed an official.
