Haryana pollution board directs builders to install dust sensors

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, December 6

With air quality deteriorating in NCR, including Gurugram, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board has told all large construction sites to register on a dust portal.

Notices issued

We have issued notices to all large units, and any unit that doesn’t install sensors or register on the portal will not be allowed to operate. Kuldeep Singh, HSPCB regional officer

According to the latest orders of the board, as construction activity is currently banned under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), it will be allowed to restart after revoking of the plan if the sites are registered.The sites have also been asked to instal PM 2.5 and PM 10 sensors as per the orders of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

The city currently has 3,500 large construction or demolition sites with an area of 500 square metres or more. Despite repeated orders and warnings, only 165 have, so far, registered on the state’s web portal for dust control. None of the sites has so far installed the sensors that are meant to send live feed to the portal. Haryana had launched the portal for real-time monitoring of pollution levels at construction and demolition (C&D) sites in January. The portal has a live dashboard to reflect ambient air quality status at specific sites.

“We have given enough warnings and appeals to all units but on seeing no compliance, we will now deal the issue with an iron hand,” said HSPCB regional officer Kuldeep Singh. The board, as per its plan, will not only seal the sites and impose hefty fines but will also try them in environmental court to ensure compliance.

The board has formed six teams for inspections. As per the directives of CAQM, all projects (on plot area equal to or greater than 500 sq.m.) of construction and demolition in NCR have to mandatorily register at the web portal.

The project proponents are required to instal reliable and low-cost PM2.5 and PM10 sensors at the sites and link those to a platform with live dashboard accessibility for the pollution control board to monitor the activities.

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