Ghaziabad: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Tuesday detected 24 instances of high visible road dust and accumulation of construction and demolition (C&D) waste at multiple locations in Ghaziabad during an inspection, an official statement said on Wednesday.
As many as 10 flying squads were deployed by the CAQM to conduct inspection drive across various road stretches and areas under Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam, and a total of four zones were covered during the special inspection drive “Operation Clean Air”, it said.
“During the field inspection, 24 instances of high visible road dust and accumulation of C&D waste were observed at multiple locations. Violations were identified across different road stretches including Surdas Marg, Meerut Road, Tagore Road, B N Sharma Road, St. Thomas Marg, Maharana Pratap Marg, Industrial Area Road (E Block), etc. The observations indicated gaps in regular sweeping operations, inadequate dust suppression measures along with improper handling and disposal of C&D waste at several stretches,” the CAQM stated.
The Commission has directed the concerned authorities to intensify dust mitigation measures through comprehensive deep cleaning operations, regular mechanised road sweeping, targeted water sprinkling and prompt lifting and scientific disposal of accumulated C&D waste.
“Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam has also been advised to strengthen monitoring and enforcement mechanism to prevent unauthorised dumping and ensure compliance with prescribed norms for air pollution mitigation in the region. The Commission emphasised that any lapse in implementation of prescribed dust mitigation measures and negligence by the concerned officers shall be viewed seriously. The concerned authorities have been advised to fix accountability and take appropriate action against officers found responsible for such gaps,” it added.
Ankit Kumar, the regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh pollution control board told HT, “We had no information about the inspection…. The directions will be complied with.”
NK Chaudhary, chief engineer of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation told HT, “Different agencies are working on projects like construction of roads, drainage, etc, and the CAQM inspections were largely carried out in these areas. We have asked the concerned agencies and also the corporation officials to strengthen the dust mitigation measures.”
The actions were aimed to boost on-ground enforcement measures across the NCR and adjoining areas, the CAQM said.
According to the daily bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board on Wednesday, the Ghaziabad district recorded AQI of 241 under the “poor” category while the AQI was recorded at 279 under the similar category on Tuesday.