EPCA chief unhappy with Ghaziabad’s readiness to tackle pollution

Ghaziabad: The chairperson of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) on Saturday expressed unhappiness over the

Ghaziabad: The chairperson of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) on Saturday expressed unhappiness over the pollution in Ghaziabad and directed the district magistrate to fix accountability of officials and take stern action if efforts are not taken to reduce pollution in the city.

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EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal on Saturday held a detailed meeting with officials of different departments in Ghaziabad and asked them to get cracking as winter is around the corner, a time when pollution usually spikes in the city.

“I visited different areas in Ghaziabad and saw pollution and polluting objects. I came across instances where construction material was not stored as per norms, besides instances of garbage burning and thick road dust. I also visited the Sahibabad vegetable market, where the material was found disposed of in a disorderly fashion and could have been composted. I have told the officials to prepare a plan for all this within a week,” Bhure Lal said.

During the inspection, he visited sites in Bhopra, Sahibabad vegetable market, Mohan Nagar, Kanya Vedic College in Old City, Hindon Vihar, ready-mix plant at Sahibabad Industrial Area and Kaushambi bus depot, among others.

He also asked district magistrate Dr Ajay Shankar Pandey to fix accountability of officials who will be patrolling different areas and would also be conducting night checks at different polluting sites as well as industrial areas.

“I have asked the DM to fix accountability and to see that areas are assigned different officials. They will face action for any pollution in their assigned areas. They will also face suspensions if the work is not carried out properly,” he said.

Lal said according to surveys, the main source of pollution is vehicles, which account for about 40% of the total pollution. Other sources like industrial units and households accounts for about 30% and 10%, respectively. He added that the survey was conducted for the Delhi-NCR.

“The pollution due to stubble burning will commence soon but it is not as serious as vehicular emissions and industrial emissions. The latter two have a number of chemical compounds which directly affect the health of citizens. The Centre is also providing a subsidy for converting stubble to biofuel. States such as Punjab are already generating about 70 megawatt of electricity,” Lal said.

He said only brick kilns that have converted to fuel efficient zigzag technology can operate.

Referring to the officials, Lal said, “These people are sleeping and I have come to wake them up that they should be putting in all efforts to curb air pollution this season.”

He said EPCA has already written to the UP chief secretary highlighting several points that UP agencies should be implementing.

“I have asked officials to speed up dust control measures, proper management and disposal of construction & demolition waste, curbing the use of plastic and garbage burning, and also measures to reduce vehicular pollution. The industrial units have been asked to use only authorised fuel and the officials will crack down on those using banned fuel like furnace oil, pet coke etc.,” Lal said.

Pandey said different areas have been assigned different officials for conducting checks.

“As directed, the accountability of officials has been fixed. They have been assigned areas where regular checks will be taken up. Different departments have also been told to speed up pollution control measures,” Pandey said.