Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain has formed a six-member team to carry out surprise inspections in Delhi to check violations which contribute towards air pollution. The air quality in the capital is under ‘very poor’ category since Wednesday. Hussain has also directed that Development Agencies should ensure all construction sites should adhere to the Construction and Demolition Waste Rules, 2016 to avoid any dust emission from construction activities. “No Construction Material should be kept open and regular sprinkling of water at all construction sites must be done. All high rise building should have the arrangement of water sprinkling for dust suppression. Strict action against the violators of norms should immediately be initiated by the respective authority,” a statement from Delhi government stated. The committee will carry out inspections to check ground level steps being taken by various municipal/local bodies/agencies like North MCD, East MCD, PWD, DCB, for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi. The Minister has further directed all the stakeholder departments/agencies to intensify their actions as per the various categories of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and ensure all preparedness to deal with winter season episodic air pollution in Delhi. The Minister has also sought the details and schedule of the operation of mechanical sweeping and sprinkling vehicles being operated by these bodies including the PWD. As per the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) mechanical sweeping and water sprinkling of the roads is one of the important means to check/curb air pollution. On Wednesday, the latest satellite images showed crop residue burning at “dangerous” levels and Hussain asserted that it should be stopped immediately or entire north India would suffer serious health hazards.

Stay updated with all the Delhi Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.