NEW DELHI: In the past 12 days, the Delhi government has inspected 2,764 construction sites under the anti-dust campaign, and 76 violators have been issued fines amounting to Rs 17.40 lakh, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Saturday.
Under the anti-dust campaign, which began on October 7 and will run until November 7, a total of 523 teams have been formed to inspect various construction sites across Delhi and take action against violations, he said.
On Saturday morning, an AQI (Air Quality Index) of 273 was recorded, which falls under the “poor category”.
The data showed that the AQI in Mundka and Bawana stood at 366, Wazirpur at 355, Jahangirpuri at 347, and Anand Vihar at 333, all in the ‘very poor’ category.
For the past several days, the city AQI has been oscillating between the “poor” and “very poor” categories. Rai said Delhi’s air quality has dropped to the ‘poor’ category due to changing weather conditions and with temperatures dropping, the situation could deteriorate further.
According to the government, several initiatives are been undertaken to arrest the rise in pollution levels.
“A Green War Room has been launched to monitor pollution. Several campaigns are being run, including the anti-dust campaign, spraying of bio-decomposer, tree plantation drives, awareness campaigns, and water spraying through mobile anti-smog guns,” he stated.
Eighty-five Mechanical Road Sweeping (MRS) machines and 500 water sprinklers have been deployed across Delhi. In November, mobile anti-smog guns will operate in three shifts, Rai said.
The minister emphasised that strict action would be taken against non-compliant sites, warning that severe violations could result in shutdowns.
Meanwhile, Rai blamed Uttar Pradesh for polluting the Yamuna River.
“They send the white froth from Uttar Pradesh and we clean it. We did it yesterday and we will do it again today,”he said. The Yamuna in Delhi was seen covered with a thick layer of white froth on Friday.
Videos circulating on social media showed vast sections of the river frothing, resembling clouds over the water, which gradually dissipated later in the day.
(With PTI inputs)