NGT issues direction to deal with an environment emergency

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today issued few directions to deal with the situation, including banning construction and industrial activities and entry of trucks. They also lambasted over the Delhi government and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) over the worsening air quality in Delhi and neighbouring states. They have instructed the authorities and the civic bodies to sprinkle water where Partculate Matter (PMT) 10 is found to be in excess of 600 micrograms per cubic metre (PCM). It has also ordered

Punjab, Haryana and UP governments to spell out the steps they have taken to check crop burning in the states adjacent to the national capital. the NGT was hearing a plea to seek immediate action against the worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR stating that it was an environment emergency that affecting children and old age too.

“No construction activity will be carried out on structures until further orders. All industrial activities in Delhi-NCR which are causing emissions will also not be allowed to carry on their functioning” till November 14, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

An irked green panel also imposed a ban on the entry of diesel trucks more than ten years old and said that no vehicle from outside or within Delhi will be permitted to transport any construction material.

The tribunal told the authorities that holding meetings, writing letters and shifting responsibility from one to the other for non-performance can hardly be made an excuse for meeting “such a bad environmental emergency”.

Noting flagrant violation of the prescribed limits of PM (particulate matter) 10 and PM 2.5, it banned construction and industrial activities causing emissions till November 14.

The bench has also asked “You (officials) go to the hospital and see what kind of trouble people are facing. You kept playing with people’s life. Right to life has been infringed with impunity by the authorities and other stakeholders who have been mere spectators to such crisis.”

It further directed the authorities to implement EPCA’s directions to improve ambient air quality while asking the civic bodies to constitute teams to ensure there is no burning of waste in Delhi-NCR. The national capital is experiencing ‘severe’ air quality under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels have breached the permissible standards by multiple times. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recorded ‘severe’ air quality, meaning that the intensity of pollution was extreme.