SC seeks reports from Delhi, UP and Haryana on action against dust pollution
NEW DELHI: Days after rapping realtors for constructing housing conglomerates without environment clearance, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked Delhi, UP and Haryana to detail action taken against builders who failed to adhere to norms for controlling dust pollution at their sites.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur had on December 16 taken note of amicus curiae Harish Salve's submission that the construction industry was a major source of pollution, responsible for around 4% of particulate emissions, more water pollution incidents than any other industry, and thousands of noise-pollution complaints every year.
The bench had said, "We see no reason to decline a direction to that effect. CPCB norms regarding prevention of pollution by putting curtains and other devices at construction sites must be strictly enforced by enforcement agencies concerned. We direct accordingly."
On Thursday, it decided to take stock of the action taken by the three states. The bench headed by CJI asked Delhi government counsel Rahul Mehra to place the action taken report card. But Mehra said as many as 172 notices were issued to different builders.
Both the bench and Salve wanted to know what action had been taken following the notice. Mehra could not elaborate except saying that the maximum penalty for construction norm violation was a mere Rs 50,000 which was peanuts for a big builder and not a deterrent.
The bench did not agree. It said: "If the fine is recurring and imposed every day, it would make the builder scrupulously follow the dust control norms. But, the problem is that the inspectors are not douing their job properly."
Tunring to Salve, the bench asked: "Can the Environment Protection and Control Authority (EPCA) make surprise checks on construction sites to examine whether they followed the dust control norms? If EPCA makes a report and points out lapses on part of the inspecting officers from statutory authorities, we will immediately order suspension of such officers."
The counsel for UP and Haryana could also not give details of action taken against builders for violating the CPCB norms on construction. The bench asked EPCA to make surprise checks at various construction sites in the three states enlisiting help from voluntary organisations and file a detailed report before the court.
The National Capital Region (NCR), spread as far as Jind and Karnal districts of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, accounts for a substantial share in the real estate activities of the country's Rs 2.48 lakh crore construction industry, the second largest contributor to the GDP after agriculture.
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