East Delhi civic body closes 44 out of 61 construction waste dumping sites

NEW DELHI: As part of a larger plan to curb pollution in the national capital, the civic authorities in east Delhi have reduced the number of sites earmarked for dumping
construction and demolition waste to 17 from 61, officials said on Friday. Besides, special inspection teams have been deployed for dedicated monitoring of
biomass burning, unauthorised dumping of such waste and polluting industries, they said.

As per the instructions of the municipal commissioner, “the notified sites of dumping C&D waste has been squeezed from 61 to just 17”, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) said in a statement.
The EDMC also said that it has made special arrangements to combat the increasing level of air pollution in Delhi. The special inspection teams for dedicated monitoring of biomass burning,
unauthorised dumping of C&D waste and polluting industries will be deployed in two shifts for round-the-clock monitoring, controlling and penalising of defaulters, it
said.

Special attention is being paid to hotspot areas of Anand Vihar and Vivek Vihar, and efforts are being made to reduce air pollution through water sprinkling and deployment of mechanical road sweepers, the statement said.
Further, beat-wise deployment of ‘Paryavaran Sahayaks’ (sanitation workers) along with their details has been uploaded on the EDMC website that can be accessed by the public, it said.
EDMC commissioner Vikas Anand has asked senior officers to strictly monitor factors causing air pollution in the area and take punitive action against violators. Earlier this month, the EDMC had issued an order stating that construction and
demolition waste generated at sites of construction or renovation of buildings

Aggarwal had then said that earlier over 60 designated points were earmarked in the city for dumping C&D waste. But as per this new executive order, the owners or builders undertaking work
related to construction or renovation at sites will have to dispose of construction and demolition waste only at Shastri Park C&D waste processing plant, he had said.
Owners or builders will have to ferry the waste to the processing plant at their own cost, he had added. Violation of this order will invite “appropriate action” and the “building plan may
also be cancelled”, the EDMC had said.