Pollution control body checks use of coal in industrial units, MCG issues 9 fines

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugam (MCG) on Friday said it has increased mechanical sweeping and sprinkling of water on roads and at places where construction is going on to curb pollution in the city.

The MCG said 20 tankers have been deployed to sprinkle recycled water on roads. The authority on Friday also issued nine fines for violations related to uncovered material and other violations. The corporation also said it has seized seven vehicles taking mixed garbage, which is in violation of rules.

The pollution department, meanwhile, said its teams on Friday checked 17 industrial units as they used coal earlier as a fuel but found that none of them was using the banned fuel.

As per the directions of the Centre for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the agency tasked with monitoring and controlling pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), burning of coal is not allowed when stage two of the graded response action plan (Grap) is in force. The stage two was enforced by the CAQM on Wednesday following projections of a rise in air quality index in Delhi-NCR.

The district administration in Gururgram had also issued directions to agencies in the city on Thursday to enforce the stage two measures strictly.

Sandeep Singh, regional officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), who is also the nodal officer for pollution control in the district, said their teams inspected 17 units on Friday to check the use of coal as fuel and found that none of the unit was violating the norms.

“Our teams also checked whether coal had been stored by these units but none was found. The department will keep checking for violations and appeal to all to follow norms. We will take strict action against violators who break rules,” he said.

The MCG on Friday, meanwhile, said teams are carrying out inspections in different parts of the city to check violations of Grap. An MCG spokesperson said fines were issued to nine persons on Friday for reasons such as keeping construction material uncovered and dumping garbage illegally.

The MCG officials said 20 tankers have been deployed to sprinkle recycled water on roads and dust hot spots. They also said mechanical sweeping of roads is being carried out and water is also being sprinkled at places where manual sweeping is being carried out.

They also said MCG teams are working to ensure garbage is not burnt, construction waste is not dumped illegally and measures under Grap are followed strictly.

Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, said their teams are keeping a watch on usage of diesel gensets and clean fuels in industrial area.

The air quality on Friday moved to “poor” category in Gurugram with an AQI reading of 242. On Thursday, the AQI was “moderate”with a reading of 186.