Not taking care of the fact that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered stoppage of activities, including construction, causing pollution in Noida and Greater Noida, pollution level in Noida remained in ‘severe’ category on Tuesday.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) data, the air quality index was 410, which is ‘severe’ .
The NGT on November 9 had suspended construction in Delhincr, including Noida, till November 14. However, work such as digging, levelling soil and uprooting trees.
Many construction sites located in sectors 74, 76 and Greater Noida West were not covered with sheets. “I have not observed any change at construction sites in Noida and Greater Noida after the NGT order. Why do builders not adhere to construction guidelines at all times? Halting construction will not produce any result until the guidelines are followed. Also, the Noida authority action against builders came late. It did not implement the graded action plan earlier,” said Atul Gupta, urban town planner and president of Noida chapter of UP Architects’ association.
According to MOEF-2010 guidelines, a realtor should take precautions to protect vegetation, develop green belts around a construction site, sprinkle water using fine spray nozzles to suppress the dust, use cleaner fuel in construction machineries, use covering sheet to prevent dust dispersion and paint construction material with curing chemicals to reduce usage of water, among others.
“Most builders flout these guidelines throughout the year, causing pollution because the authority is soft on the builders. The Noida authority imposed a fine of around ₹1 crore against builders only when air pollution reached alarming levels. Ideally, it should have acted earlier,” said Ajay Kamra, of Sector 76.
“We have enforced NGT guidelines strictly and also written to all respective authorities to reduce air pollution by following norms. If the authority is not sprinkling water or is allowing construction, we will ask them to follow norms,” said BB Awasthi, regional officer of UPPCB, Noida.
The traffic police issued an advisory based on the order of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, prohibiting entry of medium and heavy transport vehicles not carrying essential commodities into Delhi from 8pm on Tuesday
