As of now on 20 December air quality panel of the Centre withdrew all restrictions on construction activities in Delhi and NCR region because there was an improvement in pollution levels but there must be some person or agency that will monitor and comply with dust control norms.
In an order issued on Nov 16, the CAQM had asked to stop all construction and demolition activities in the NCR till Nov 21 but some NCR states removed the ban so the Supreme Court, in order on Nov 24, re-imposed the ban. Then on 17 December, the CAQM eased the restrictions on some of the construction’s projects including hospitals, highways and flyovers, and sanitation and public utility projects like sewage treatment plants.
The Centre’s Air Quality Commission informed the Supreme Court on December 16 that we will make a decision regarding resuming construction activities, which have been identified as a major source of pollution in the capital on 17 December.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on 17 December has ordered the ban on construction activity to continue in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), but there were some projects which were granted exemption like healthcare projects, railway projects etc.
According to the World health organization’s air quality data, Delhi is the world's most polluted city. If we see the reasons for high pollution in Delhi, we find various activities which are harmful to the air quality like stubble burning, vehicular pollution etc. in that respect there is one more activity which is responsible for the poor air quality in Delhi. i.e., Construction activities Large scale construction activities in Delhi NCR leads to dust and pollution which impacts air quality badly. Rapid increment in pollution levels during the winter season as always in Delhi-NCR compelled the Supreme Court to re-impose the ban on construction activities in the region in the month of November.
HOW DOES CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES CAUSE POLLUTION
We can say that construction activities are one of the major sources of pollution which are responsible for around four percentage '' particulate emissions''. Construction activities are majorly responsible for air pollution but with that, it is also responsible for soil pollution, noise pollution and water pollution. Activities like
Operation of diesel engines
Work with toxic materials
Burning, demolition
Heavy equipment and machinery produce lots of noise, etc
Something like this again happened in the national capital of our INDIA, yes, we are talking about DELHI and NCR region. In that case, a petition was filed by the 17-year-old ADITYA DUBEY & ANR.
SC BENCH- DECISION ON CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES-
Earlier it was decided by the NCR states — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan to remove the ban on construction and other activities as the situation regarding air pollution improved a little bit but the SC bench reiterated that the ban will not be removed on construction activities and other activities and said that take adequate measures to curb the spike in pollution levels.
So, the Supreme Court in its November 24 order had stated that the ban on construction activities in Delhi and NCR will not be lifted up and also gave direction to the states to give subsistence to workers from the funds collected as labour cess for the period during which such these activities are prohibited and pay remuneration notified under the Minimum Wages Act for the workers. This order has been passed in a plea filed by 17 years old Aditya Dubey seeking urgent steps to improve the air quality of Delhi NCR.
Various activities such as plumbing, electrical, carpenter’s work etc which is non-polluting activities but are related to construction are allowed to be continued.
STEPS TAKEN BY DELHI GOVERNMENT-
Delhi government in an instant relief to the workers gave an order today to deposit Rs 5,000 each in bank accounts in lieu of a ban on construction activities due to air pollution. They also said to provide compensation to workers for their loss in accordance with minimum wages.
The ban on construction and demolition activities in Delhi will continue till further order, said the city's Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday as air quality in the city remained in the “very poor" category. The data from 1 December to 12 December as per the AQI shows the pollution levels of 250 and 325. The experts said that the pollution level in Delhi and NCR may improve after mid-December and after that, there is a possibility of improvement and as of today on 20 December we can see that the ban on construction and other activities has been removed.
Delhi government sealed NBCC INDIA site and levied a fine of Rs 1 crore
NBCC India construction site was sealed and a fine of Rs 1 crore was imposed on the orders of the Delhi Environment Minister for operating in the night and violating the apex court pollution norms.
CONSTRUCTION-BUILDERS BODY
A builder’s body i.e. The Developers and builder’s forum has moved the apex court seeking to vacate its order on the decision of ban on construction activities in Delhi-NCR until further orders.
Builders’ association body also filed the plea by saying that they are using the latest construction technology so as to reduce dust pollution and adhere to the laid-down norms.
CONCLUSION-
The air pollution in Delhi is a very severe health hazard for millions of people, the policy of the government should be to control it and various other stakeholders should support the government in this initiative. It needs to tackle through a multi-pronged approach involving the creation of the right infrastructure like public transport, waste management support from neighbouring states etc.
Author:
Leave a Comment
Previous Comments