Grap violations under pollution board scanner

Unauthorised parking, open burning of biomass (including leaves and horticultural waste), and vehicular emissions were recorded as the most prevalent air quality

Unauthorised parking, open burning of biomass (including leaves and horticultural waste), and vehicular emissions were recorded as the most prevalent air quality violations in the city over the past week, according to an action-taken report compiled by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board’s regional office in Gurugram.

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As per the report, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, 203 violations of biomass burning were detected between October 26 and November 1, followed by 104 violations by visibly polluting vehicles, in addition to 666 violations of unauthorised parking. These were followed by pollution caused due to garbage dumping (69 violations), construction and demolition activities (67 violations) and unauthorised entry of heavy vehicles within city limits (51 violations).

Other polluting activities, such as garbage burning, resuspension of road dust, industrial waste dumping and use of coal by industrial units, were also observed by enforcement teams. However, these violations were observed to be fewer in number, as per the HSPCB’s enforcement report, which compiles enforcement data from multiple bodies engaged in the pollution response, including the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Public Works Department (PWD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) and the traffic department.

A total of Rs 34,13,600 were issued in fines during the same period, HSPCB officials confirmed. “These enforcement reports are compiled weekly, and show where we have been successful in curbing violations. We will use the data from these when planning subsequent inspection drives. Areas, where high number of violations are detected, will require more vigilance going forward,” said Kuldeep Singh, HSPCB’s regional officer in Gurugram.

Singh added that vehicles and biomass burning were recorded in such high numbers due to their ubiquitous nature, but said that other violations — such as road dust, garbage burning, and construction activities — may have gone under the radar and may require a more concerted response. Experts agreed with this view.

Abhishek Srivastava, a city-based environment engineer and sustainability consultant, said, “While it is important to detect violations, these numbers likely do not reflect the real situation on the ground. In my view, it is hard to believe that only 67 construction-related violations were detected in one week, since we can all see how prevalent the issue is in Gurugram. Similarly, the report shows only two violations of road dust-related pollution, which is again a bit hard to swallow. If these violations were really so low in number, we wouldn’t be dealing with such a large pollution load.”

Srivastava said, “The HSPCB report lacks any information on corrective action. It reports the violations, but does not give any information on how they are systematically addressed. If one detects a construction site releasing fugitive emissions, is there any water sprinkling done on the dust piles? Are the active piles covered up? Or are authorities simply fining the violator? The report requires a little more clarity, in that regard.”

A senior HSPCB official who is involved in compiling enforcement data from different departments, seeking anonymity, explained, “The traffic department is widely deployed, to begin with, so naturally traffic-related violations will be detected in higher numbers. Biomass burning happens mainly at night, and it is easily detected by the eyes, so it is easy for our teams to note these as violations. Most of our patrolling also happens at night, when construction and industrial activities slow down. This makes it harder to detect.”