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Gurugram residents complain of Grap violations as AQI remains ‘very poor’ for third consecutive day
City residents however complained that construction activities were still being carried out despite the enforcement of Grap stage three. Ajay Parashar, a resident of Sector 57, said that construction activities were being carried out in at least 20 sites in his sector on Sunday and none of the directions such as sprinkling water and other such things were being followed
Despite the implementation of the graded response action plan (Grap) stage three in the city, several residents on Sunday alleged that construction activities had not ceased, particularly inside sectors and private colonies and waste burning incidents were also taking place that were adding to the air pollution.
The air quality in the city on Sunday remained in the ‘very poor’ category for the third consecutive day with an AQI of 342, which experts said was due to low wind speed and increase in stubble burning incidents in Punjab and Haryana.
The district administration and civic agencies in the city, however, said that they will intensify action against violators at construction sites, check waste burning and other pollution causing activities from Monday.
Following directions from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) on Saturday imposed a construction ban to curb dust pollution in the city and also imposed restrictions on operation of industrial units as prescribed by Grap stage three. As per the CAQM directions, all kinds of earth work, structural construction work, demolitions, transfer of raw materials, digging of drains, cutting and fixing tiles and similar activities which cause dust pollution are banned till further notice.
City residents however complained that construction activities were still being carried out despite the enforcement of Grap stage three. Ajay Parashar, a resident of Sector 57, said that construction activities were being carried out in at least 20 sites in his sector on Sunday and none of the directions such as sprinkling water and other such things were being followed.
“The sites were even functional on Sunday despite the ban. The authorities must ensure that construction is banned,” Parashar said.
Dev Singh, a resident of Sushant Lok Phase 1 took to Twitter and said that several construction sites in C-Block were functional, where builder floors are under construction at several plots.
Residents living along the Dwarka Expressway and Southern Peripheral Road said that several incidents of waste burning were taking place and there was need for stricter enforcement of Grap rules.
Pawan Kumar, a resident of Palam Vihar, said that there is an immediate need to stop transportation of construction materials. “Garbage is being burnt at several places in Sector 22, 23, Palam Vihar and along the Dwarka Expressway. This needs to be stopped immediately” he said.
When asked about the matter, Kuldeep Singh, HSPCB regional officer, said that they will look into the complaints by the residents and action will be taken against all violators from Monday onwards. “We will take up the matter with the agencies concerned such as the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and ask them to increase patrolling in their respective jurisdictions. Penalties will be imposed, sites sealed and penal action will be initiated against violators,” he said.
The MCG said it will increase sprinkling of water on roads and dust hotspots. The civic body officials said that mechanised sweeping of roads will also be carried out. “MCG has already formed a dust control cell which has been mandated to take action at construction sites and dust hotspots. We will intensify our action against such violations,” said SS Rohilla, MCG spokesperson.
The Gurugram district administration also said that all construction activities barring those that are exempted under Grap are banned. “The civic agency has been asked to sprinkle water on busy roads, particularly before the peak hours. Construction activities are not allowed,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
The construction ban, however, is likely to hit some of the infrastructure projects in the city. Public works department (PWD) officials said that they will seek exemption for their underpass projects at Atul Kataria Chowk and Mahavir Chowk, as these are in the final stage of construction and are likely to be completed in the next 15 to 30 days.
“The underpass at Mahavir Chowk is almost complete and work will be completed at the Atul Kataria Chowk in a month. We will seek exemption for these two projects,” said Praveen Choudhary, superintendent engineer, PWD.
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in its forecast on Sunday said that overall air quality is likely to remain in the ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ category on Monday. The air quality is likely to deteriorate further on Tuesday. It further said that stubble burning counts in Punjab were 1,898, while Haryana reported 112 cases on Saturday.
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