Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Wednesday said open burning of garbage, dumping of construction waste and use of tandoors in restaurants are among the top contributors to rising air pollution in the national capital. Oberai said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has also decided to implement the winter action plan on the instructions of the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Oberoi said that construction activities and open burning of garbage are major sources of pollution. Due to construction work, dust blows everywhere, due to which pollution increases more. The second major source of pollution is solid waste. Open burning of garbage causes a lot of pollution. Keeping this in mind, MCD has taken many important steps.
The MCD has collected nearly Rs 1.51 crore in seven days from fines imposed on violators flouting the ban on these activities, she added.
“We have deployed special teams on the ground to keep a check on open burning (of garbage) and (dumping of) construction and demolition (C&D) waste, which have been banned keeping in mind the rising air pollution. These activities have been banned as they are among top contributors to the rising levels of air pollution in the city,” Oberoi said during a press conference.
The MCD has deployed 517 surveillance teams to curb air pollution in the national capital. The teams have issued 297 challans for open burning of garbage and 622 challans for dumping C&D waste to defaulters in seven days.
“More than 175 teams have been formed to monitor open burning during the day and 124 teams have been formed to monitor it at night. About 250 people have been deployed in the monitoring team during the day. These people are visiting different areas of Delhi and conducting inspections so that open burning can be stopped. At the same time, 316 people have been deployed in the night monitoring team. These people are monitoring the big and small roads in Delhi at night,”she said.
The civic body has collected Rs 14.85 lakh from violators fined for open burning of garbage and Rs 1.37 crore for those flouting the C&D waste dumping ban, according to an official release.The MCD has also removed 676 tandoors from restaurants in an attempt to control air pollution.
“Under the MCD’s action against pollution, 297 open burning challans have been imposed amounting to a fine of Rs 14.85 lakh and 622 C&D challans accumulating a fine of Rs 1.37 crore during 01.11.2023 to 07.11.2023,” the release stated.
The MCD has banned these activities under its Winter Action Plan, invoked as part of GRAP Stage IV. A monitoring team has also been set up to take stock of the situation on the ground.