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Haryana flouting Epca diesel genset ban, alleges AAP
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused the Haryana government of not complying with the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority’s (Epca) ban on the use of diesel generator sets in the national capital region (NCR) from October 15.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Haryana is hell-bent on polluting the air that residents of Delhi breathe. The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order regarding retrofitting gensets is being openly disregarded by the Haryana government. Year after year, the Haryana government is making excuses to disregard Epca’s directions and refuses to ban gensets,” AAP’s national spokesperson of Raghav Chadha said at a press conference.
He said, “The Haryana government’s contempt for the health of Delhi residents and the Epca should be dealt with an iron fist and strong action should be taken against them. Why should Delhi pay for the Haryana government’s negligence? This can’t be excused.”
On October 8, the Epca told the Haryana government that the graded action response plan, which prohibits the use of diesel generator sets, will be applicable from October 15.
The Haryana government had on Monday written to Epca, saying Gurgaon and Faridabad would face a power crisis if diesel generator sets are banned.
The Epca so far has refused to step back on the issue and asserted that the action plan – aimed at preventing winter pollution in Delhi-NCR – will come into force.
Vipul Goel, former cabinet minister in the Haryana government, who held the environment portfolio from 2014 to 2019, said, “Firstly, all heavy-duty gensets above 1000KvA are already fitted with emission-control equipment at the time of manufacture. If you want to blame smaller gensets, then Delhi should fix the issue within its boundaries instead of blaming us. Gurugram and Faridabad don’t use half the number of small generators that Delhi does in its markets and residential colonies.”
Goel said the Haryana government has every intention to abide by Epca’s orders, and will work proactively to ensure permanent and uninterrupted electricity connections are granted to industries so that their output is not impacted.
