The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday banned all construction activities till November 14 in Delhi and NCR in a bid to control the worsening air quality in the region.
Rapping the Delhi government and pollution control boards over inaction towards controlling the situation, a Bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar said: “All construction activity in the entire Delhi-NCR is hereby prohibited. Construction of any kind will not be carried out by any person, private or the government. However, for days that construction is prohibited, the labourers shall not be denied their wages.”
Release of emissions
The NGT has also banned the operation of brick kilns and industries which release emissions. Further, the green panel directed all the civic bodies and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to constitute teams of officials to ensure that there is no burning of waste in their respective jurisdictions.
Additionally, the Bench said: “We direct that there should be sprinkling of water wherever the PM 10 is found in excess of 600. There should be regular cleaning of the roads after sprinkling, so that the particulate matter doesn’t rise again.”
The Tribunal also came down heavily upon all the authorities for not complying with the directions that it had passed in 2016. “The Tribunal had passed a detailed judgment in 2016, clearly postulating steps that were to be taken keeping precautionary methods in mind to ensure that the polluted ambient air quality is not repeated in 2017. However, this remains unexecuted and non-complied,” said the Bench.
Civic bodies pulled up
Lashing out at the civic bodies and the pollution control boards, the green panel said, “What directions have you passed in the last 10 days? What sins have the children committed that they should be subjected to breathing such air?”
“We have no hesitation to observe that all the governments and authorities have failed to fulfil their statutory functions. Holding meetings, writing letters and shifting the blame to each other for non-performance can hardly be an excuse during an environmental emergency,” the Bench added.
Ban on trucks
The Tribunal has also banned the plying of trucks which carry construction material like sand and cement, within the Capital.
Additionally, it has asked the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan to ensure that crop residue is not burnt and has asked the respective governments to provide enough incentives to the farmers. It also directed all the States to comply with the graded action plan in order to improve the ambient air quality.
