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Gurgaon pollution checking centres to be inspected
In a 10-day inspection HSPCB teams will visit all PUC centres to investigate about their mode of operation and their registration.
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) on Wednesday formed teams to inspect the Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) issuing centres in the city.
The move comes after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) sought numbers of PUC centres operating in the city and to verify the certificate issued by them.
“We have constituted four teams that will consist of two people each. It will be a 10-day plan and our teams will visit all PUC centres in various locations in the city to conduct investigation about their mode of operation and their registration,” Bhupender Singh, regional officer, HSPCB, said.
As the air quality of the city has been recorded as ‘poor’ in the last two months, the CPCB asked the pollution watchdog to take active steps to curb pollution.
The city does not have accurate data regarding the number of PUC centres. “The PUC centres, according to our officials, is around 300. However, we have been informed that the actual figure is much more than that,” Singh said.
The Centre had issued a notification on Monday to enforce a graded response plan to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR through Environment Pollution Control and Prevention Authority (EPCA) under the Environment (Protection) Act. The CPCB inquired about the validation of certificates issued by the PUC centres in Gurgaon following the notification.
“We are following the notification and working on all corrective measures. For the next 10 days, we will monitor the equipment that are being used by the centres. We will ask the transport department to make the pollution PUC mandatory for the renewal of insurance of vehicles,” Singh said.
During the inspection, the units that are be found violating NGT norms will be issued a closure notice by the pollution department, officials said. So far, no PUC centres were issued any notices for violating norms.
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