In an effort to improve air quality and city cleanliness, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday imposed spot penalties on builders and offenders, collecting over Rs 30,000 in fines.
The penalties come amid intensified efforts by the BMC to curb particulate matter contamination in the city's air. A recent report by the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) had recorded a negative growth of these microscopic pollutants in the state capital.
Even as the Air Quality Index (AQI) registered a significant improvement in the city’s air on Saturday due to a shift in weather conditions, municipal employees surveyed the city and penalised polluters responsible for releasing stagnating pollutants.
Those penalised on the day included persons failing to cover their under-construction civil projects with green nets, and improper disposal of construction and demolition (C&D) debris. In six cases involving C&D waste, Rs 8,500 was collected in fines.
The municipal administration initiated fines after repeated appeals to builders and contractors to adhere to environmental norms governing construction in the city limits fell on deaf ears.
The municipal team also took action against those failing to segregate waste at source, urinating in public spaces, and using banned plastic. In total, the team collected Rs 30,750 in spot fines/penalties across 113 cases.
The BMC has renewed its appeal to building contractors to ensure full use of green nets during construction and cooperate with the ongoing efforts to improve air quality in the city, as failure to adhere could invite severe penalties in the future.
Environment watchers, however, remain unmoved by the BMC’s efforts. They say that seasonal initiatives, during peak pollution months in the winter, will not be enough to curb the worrying surge in contaminants that remain suspended in the air the city breathes.
The fears are echoed by residents in high-pollution areas where the air quality has worsened due to continuing and abandoned road construction activities by the district administration.
Last year, too, the BMC had embarked on an ambitious plan to curb PM10 and PM2.5 contamination. However, the efforts ended with the conclusion of winter.
