Four illegal brick kilns shut in Jewar

The kilns had been shut down following the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders to limit their presence in the National Capital Region (NCR) area. Defying the orders, the four brick kilns had started operations a couple of days ago, said officials

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) on Wednesday night closed four brick kilns that were illegally operating in the Dayanatpur area of Jewar.

According to UPPCB officials, with government holidays across the state for four days from Thursday to Sunday, the brick kiln owners were hoping to illegally operate the units without grabbing any eyeballs. (Representative image/AP Archive)

The kilns had been shut down following the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders to limit their presence in the National Capital Region (NCR) area. Defying the orders, the four brick kilns had started operations a couple of days ago, said officials.

“After the Supreme Court orders of February 2020, these brick kilns were stopped from functioning. However, we got information that they were operating again some two days ago. Our team reached the spot and poured water in them in a bid to stop them from operating illegally,” said Bhuvan Yadav, regional officer, UPPCB, Greater Noida.

According to UPPCB officials, with government holidays across the state for four days from Thursday to Sunday, the brick kiln owners were hoping to illegally operate the units without grabbing any eyeballs. However, sources from around the area complained about noticing smoke from the chimneys.

Yadav added that following the court orders, several brick kilns across Noida, Greater Noida and Jewar were stopped from operating. The directions had come following a plea moved by petitioner Utkarsh Panwar in 2019, who sought extending the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) measures to coal-fired brick kilns.

Along with limiting the number of brick kilns, the NGT had also asked only piped natural gas (PNG)-based ones to operate in Delhi NCR, especially during the period when air quality index (AQI) reaches the ‘severe’ category.

Meanwhile, after staying in the ‘poor’ category for three continuous days, the air quality in the region had improved to ‘moderate’ on Thursday for both Noida and Greater Noida areas. The AQI value in Noida was 181, while in Greater Noida it was 184 on Thursday. According to forecasts, the AQI is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’ category for the next one week.