Ghaziabad: 13 construction sites with no CCTVs and self-audit likely to face penalty as UPPCB deadline ends

Ghaziabad: As the deadline to install CCTV cameras at construction sites and make self-audit for dust control measures ended on Saturday, the UP Pollution Control

Ghaziabad: As the deadline to install CCTV cameras at construction sites and make self-audit for dust control measures ended on Saturday, the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said that 13 construction sites in the district have failed to comply with the directions.

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The UPPCB on September 22 had issued a public notice in accordance with the directions of the state-level air quality monitoring committee, and directed the construction sites to make self-audit of dust control measures and also to install cameras at the sites whose control will be given to the board.

The officials said that it is for the first time that such directions have been issued to control dust emission at the construction sites in order to curb air pollution.

“Out of 47 major construction sites, about 42 are those which have an area of more than 20,000 square metres, and were asked to install CCTV cameras and complete the self-audit. Of these, we have 13 sites which have not taken up the self-audit procedure or the installation of CCTVs. Starting Monday, we will be taking up inspection and start levying the penalties on per day basis based on the level of pollution index at the site,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB.

The officials warned that such sites may face closure depending upon the scale of violation. They further said that the construction sites of the Delhi-Meerut expressway and the Regional Rapid Transit System have completed their respective self-audit process.

“Since the two are linear projects and not concentrated at one site, they were not required to install CCTVs. In phase 2 of the inspection, we will conduct physical checks at the sites which have completed self-audit and also installed the CCTVs,” Sharma said.

The developers’ body, on the other hand, said that most of their members have complied with the directions. “Most of our members have taken keen interest and complied with the directions given by UPPCB. Some may not have installed the CCTV since it is for the first time such directions have been issued. But such members have already initiated the process of procuring the CCTVs,” said Gaurav Gupta, president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) - Ghaziabad.

“Further, our members have also initiated additional measures like green paving of areas near the project. We are proactively taking pollution abatement measures,” he added.

Under the UPPCB’s direction for self-audit, the firms taking up construction were required to fill up details related to environmental clearance; status of usage of treated water for dust emission; status of consent to operate for ready mix and hot mix plants; status of dust suppression measures; status of PUC certificates for vehicles used for transportation of material; maintaining adequate stack height for diesel generator (DG) sets and ensuring collection, segregation and disposal of construction and debris waste.

The Ghaziabad district is on the list of 16 non-attainment cities in Uttar Pradesh with high levels of pollution. In 2019, the city topped the list of all cities across the country having high levels of air pollution on several occasions.

“We have also identified about 70 industrial units in Ghaziabad which are using wood and coal as fuel. They have been given deadline of October 15 to install CCTV cameras facing their chimneys and give control of the cameras to the UPPCB for real-time monitoring. If they fail to meet the deadline, they will also face penalties,” Sharma added.

According to UPPCB records, the city in 2019 had 31 days when the air quality index (AQI) spiked to ‘severe’ category. For another 67 days in 2019, the AQI was recorded under the ‘poor’ category.

The officials have warned that the construction sites which fail to comply with air pollution norms after the Graded Response Action Plan is implemented on October 15, are likely to face more stringent penalty which ranges from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore, based on different categories of pollution levels.

A similar penalty will be recommended against the erring instances in case of industrial emission, the officials said.