Air Pollution in Delhi: In a bid to curb rising dust pollution during the winter months, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Saturday unveiled a comprehensive 14-point construction guideline as part of the city's 'Winter Action Plan'. The rules aim to tackle dust pollution from the construction sites, which is a major contributor to the city's declining air quality, Rai said. This comes a day after the Supreme Court rapped the Commission for Air Quality Management over its failure to curb air pollution due to crop residue burning.
The top court said efforts are needed to ensure that stubble-burning alternative equipment is used at the grassroots level. It directed the panel to file a better compliance report.
Gopal Rai stated that these guidelines will be strictly enforced starting October 7 adding any violations after this date will lead to penalties with the repeat offenders facing a halt in the construction activities. The rules mandate that all construction sites must be covered with tin sheets to prevent dust from spreading into the surroundings.
"People involved in any kind of construction work whether private, government or company-driven must ensure compliance with these rules," Rai emphasised during his press conference. Rai stated that all construction areas must be enclosed with tin sheets, vehicles transporting construction materials must have clean tires and materials like sand and gravel must be covered to prevent dust from spilling onto the roads. To control dust, regular water sprinkling at the construction sites is compulsory, he added. Rai further said that workers must be provided with dust masks and health kits at all times.
The Delhi government has also deployed 523 teams from 13 departments to monitor compliance. These teams will inspect the construction sites around the clock, ensuring that the new norms are followed to prevent dust pollution, he said. The anti-dust campaign will run from October 7 to November 7 as part of the winter action plan to tackle pollution in the capital, Rai added.
In a first for the national capital, Delhi's environment department will deploy one or two drones at each of the 13 major hotspots to monitor pollution levels as part of the newly launched Winter Action Plan. Environment Minister Gopal Rai while unveiling the 2024 Winter Action Plan with 21 key points said that these hotspots have been prioritised for intensified monitoring and intervention.
