Ghaziabad: About 40% pollution complaints relate to garbage burning, says UPPCB

The city of Ghaziabad since November 7 has been running high on pollution with AQI under the “very poor” category with AQI levels of 314, 339, 345, and 312 recorded till November 10

Ghaziabad: The maximum, about 40%, of pollution-related complaints received by authorities in Ghaziabad are related to instances of garbage burning that happen across the district, UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) officials said on Tuesday.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) statistics, the NCR cities of Uttar Pradesh, like Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Bulandshahr, and Meerut, accounted for a total of 2,164 complaints received through the Sameer app till November 5. About 1,755 of these, about 81%, were resolved by November 5. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The city of Ghaziabad since November 7 has been running high on pollution with an air quality index (AQI) under the “very poor” category with AQI levels of 314, 339, 345, and 312 recorded till November 10. Stages-1 and 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) were already imposed in NCR on October 14 and October 19, respectively.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) statistics, the NCR cities of Uttar Pradesh, like Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Bulandshahr, and Meerut, accounted for a total of 2,164 complaints received through the Sameer app till November 5. About 1,755 of these, about 81%, were resolved by November 5.

Another set of 4,852 complaints were received through different modes of social media, and 3,428 were resolved by November 5, the CPCB figures stated.

“We have issues of open storage of construction material alongside the main Delhi-Saharanpur Road, which passes through Loni. The road is in the worst condition and potholed which leads to massive dust pollution. Due to bad road conditions, there are traffic jams, and it further leads to vehicular emissions. Instances of garbage burning are rampant. There is hardly any enforcement seen on the ground,” said Vikas Garg, a resident of Balram Nagar, Loni.

“We have instances of garbage burning on the outskirts of Raj Nagar Extension, near Misalgarhi (near Dasna) and Kamla Nehru Nagar, and also at places where solid waste gets accumulated. People set such dumps afire in order to get rid of solid waste. These sites often face fires, and there is hardly any action against erring people,” said Vikrant Sharma, a resident of Raj Nagar Extension.

Mithilesh Kumar, the city health officer of the municipal corporation, did not respond to calls for a comment.

“In our (10) industrial areas, we had instances of garbage burning, and these fires were put out immediately. These are happening due to localities/villages present along with the industrial areas, and their waste often gets accumulated in our areas. We have also spoken to corporation officials to remove the garbage points and take them elsewhere,” said Raghunandan Singh Yadav, deputy general manager of UP State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA).

UPPCB officials said that they have already identified seven pollution hotspots—Mohan Nagar, Raj Nagar Extension, Loni, Bhopura-Delhi Border, Siddharth Vihar/Kanawani Pushta Road, Vijay Nagar/South Side GT Road Industrial Area, and Lal Kuan.

“Extensive checks and pollution abatement measures are being taken up. About 40% of pollution-related complaints received are due to instances of garbage burning, while another 20-25% complaints are related to industrial emissions. Another 10-15% are related to traffic jams and road dust issues, while construction activities and open storage of construction material account for about 15% of total complaints,” said Ankit Kumar, regional officer, UPPCB.

Officials said that they have asked the concerned agencies, like the corporation and UPSIDA to check instances of garbage burning and other violations.

“We have asked both the agencies to take tough action against violators involved in garbage burning. On our part, we are focusing on Siddharth Vihar and Raj Nagar Extension, where residential construction is prevalent. We have also formed four special teams to monitor construction activities and industrial emissions. They will also take up night inspections. Kumar added that ₹46 lakh of penalty was imposed and also received from the construction sites in October,” Kumar added.

Officials said that they will soon implement the action under stage-3 of the Grap once an order is received.

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