NEW DELHI: Local residents complained to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) about burning of garbage along the Shahadra drain, following which the Board issued a show cause notice to Irrigation and Flood Control Department asking it why an environment compensation of Rs1 lakh should not be imposed on it. A team comprising of members from PCB), Ministry of Environment and Forests, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had first inspected the site during the Clean Air Campaign in the city from November 1-5.
Terming pen dumping of waste a major cause of air pollution affecting human health, CPCB chairperson S P Parihar said during inspection of the Shahdara drain during November 1-5, it was found that industrial solid waste was burnt and dumped at several stretches.
Orders were issued to the Irrigation and Flood Control Department then and, according to CPCB officials, they received complaints in the last few days from several residents. The show cause notice was issued to the department on Monday.
In the notice, Parihar asked why officials from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department should not be prosecuted and why they should not be held responsible for open burning and dumping of waste.
On Thursday, air quality remained ‘very poor’ due to unfavourable weather conditions like low wind speed and low temperature. As per CPCB, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 349. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 and 500 is ‘severe’.