NEW DELHI: Industries will be closed and construction activities stopped for three days beginning from Monday at six pollution hotspots areas in Delhi-National Capital Region in view of the ‘severe’ air quality.
On Monday, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention) Control Authority (EPCA) issued the order that industries in Wazirpur, Mundka, Narela, Bawana, Sahibabad, and Faridabad will remain closed till Wednesday.
Delhi is facing its highest pollution levels since Diwali, with the city’s air quality remaining in the ‘severe’ category for the third consecutive day on Monday. In a letter to Delhi chief secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal also said that all construction activities in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, and Noida will be stopped till December 26.
“We have received the letter from EPCA. The ban comes into effect from today. We are issuing further orders to the industries department and will be taking stock of the situation soon,” said SM Ali, Member Secretary, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
The EPCA also asked the traffic police to deploy special teams and ensure congestion-free traffic flow, particularly in identified high traffic density corridors. The directions came a day after the Central Pollution Control Board recommended these actions to combat the high pollution levels.