New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has constituted teams to inspect and supervise construction sites to enforce dust mitigation measures as an initiative to curb air pollution.
The council has slapped 30 challans of Rs 50,000 each (total of Rs 15 lakh) against dust polluters who were not following National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines.
The public health department has also issued 290 challans amounting to Rs 48,747 against violators of public hygiene, littering, solid waste management and waste burning rules.
To mitigate the chances of dust while road sweeping, NDMC has deployed six mechanical road sweepers that are working in two shifts. “The average sweeping length done per day is 227km and all avenue roads are covered. The sweepers are monitored 24×7 through the NDMC integrated command & control centre at the headquarters,” the council said.
There is no unpaved area in NDMC as the central verges and side berms are already green paved. “The target of more than 10,000 saplings and 3 lakh shrubs was reached this year. If any pothole is found, immediate restoration is made,” an official said.
NDMC has also engaged 8 mobile anti-smog guns and has procured one static anti-smog gun. About 20 water tankers of 5000-10,000 litres capacity are being used for making two to three trips daily for water sprinkling on trees and shrubs along the main roads.
The C&D waste is collected daily and sent to the dumping ground at the Okhla C&D waste recycling plant. “An average of 65.22 MT of C&D waste is collected and sent to recycling plants daily. NDMC has 14 designated sites for the collection of C&D waste of large capacity. A three-member team regularly inspects the NDMC area and checks for violations,” an official said.
NDMC has also deployed a 14-member team of field officers from health, horticulture and civil departments, including one night team, for patrolling. In addition, 14 teams of the health department are deployed circle-wise during the daytime, to do inspections to check waste burning, officials said.
“The sanitation staff is not only sweeping the pavements and roads, but also washing them to remove dust or other pollutants,” an official said.
