Gurugram: Ahead of ban, three teams formed to inspect DG sets

Gurugram, September 26

With almost a week to go for diesel generator (DG) set ban and implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the Haryana State Pollution Control Board has launched a special inspection.

The board has constituted three teams that will go around the city and inspect DG sets operating in the city to check them for retrofitting.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had issued a mandate stating that DGs shall not be permitted under any circumstances in the entire NCR, not even for essential services if they have not been retrofitted with emission-control devices or shifted to run on cleaner fuels.

According to data collected by Central Pollution Control Board, the organised sector in NCR adds 1.2 lakh DG sets every year and another 30,000 to 40,000 machines are annually bought by the unorganised sectors. Only 20 per cent of these have so far been retrofitted in the registered organised sector and zero in unorganised sector.

In Gurugram, merely 150 DG sets have been converted to cleaner fuel as compared to over 4,000 registered.

“The teams have started carrying out enforcement getting all DG sets retroffited. Strict penal action will be taken against defaulters after October 1. With less than 10 days for the implementation of the ban, the teams will spread awareness in industries, hospitals and societies that the DG sets have to be converted to dual fuel,” Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, HSPCB, Gurugram, said.

The CAQM had ordered that generators with capacity between 19kW and 125kW will have to operate on dual-fuel mode, but these devices can only be used for a maximum of two hours a day when the GRAP restrictions are in place. The DG sets with a capacity of 125kW to 800kW will have to run on dual-fuel mode and be retrofitted with emission-control devices, it had said.

Gensets with a capacity of over 800kW have to be retrofitted with dual fuel kits or with ECDs, but these too can be operated only up to two hours a day if GRAP is in effect. There is no bar on new gensets (up to 800kW) that adhere to CAQM standards.

Shift to cleaner fuels

The CAQM had issued a mandate stating that DGs shall not be permitted under any circumstances in the entire NCR, not even for essential services if they have not been retrofitted with emission-control devices or shifted to run on cleaner fuels.