The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday banned all construction activities in Delhi city for a week to check the alarming air pollution levels. It said stone crushers and brick kilns should not operate in the region during this period.
Not stopping at this, the green court asked the Delhi government what the basis was for its decision to close schools and why it was sprinkling water using cranes.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar took the secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to task for not implementing its orders against burning crops and to contain air pollution.
No action for 5 days: bench
“What did you do when all this smog was building up and particulate matter had increased beyond prescribed limits? What steps did you take till yesterday?” the bench said. “For the first five days nobody did anything, be it the States or the Centre. Show us one thing visible to the common man.’’
The NGT also directed the civic bodies of Delhi to depute half their staff towards ensuring that no dust pollution was caused by construction and that there was no burning of municipal solid waste.
It also asked the Central Pollution Control Board to collect ambient air quality data for a week in collaboration with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
