NOIDA: The
Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) has issued notices to three
housing societies in sectors 76 and 77 in Noida following complaints by residents that standards regarding the length of exhaust pipes of diesel generator sets used as power backups were not maintained.
The residents of
Prateek Wisteria and Civitech Sampriti in Sector 77 and Amrapali Princely Estate in Sector 76 had written to the UPPCB, city magistrate and the district magistrate, alleging that the length of the exhaust pipes of the DG sets was so short that smoke often reached the first two floors of the apartments. According to the complaints, the length of the pipes was as short as 1.5 metres in some cases, as against the prescribed length of 5 metres.
“We had complained to the UPPCB, city magistrate and the district magistrate through an email on December 31, informing them that smoke from the DG set chimneys spreads across our society and reaches the first two floors. We cannot the doors and windows. We had complained to our society manager but there was no response,” said Amit Gupta, a resident of Prateek Wisteria.
Gupta added that the residents of the neighbouring Civitech Sampriti and Amrapali Princely Estate had made similar complaints.
PP Singh, a junior engineer in the district pollution control board who had visited the housing societies following the complaints, said he found the DG set exhaust pipes violating the standards.
“I had visited Prateek Wisteria in Sector 77 on January 6 and found there were four DG sets of 625Kva capacity. None of them followed the prescribed norm of a 5 metre-long exhaust pipes. We have issued notices for corrective measures. Else, action will be taken under Section 31A of Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act, 1981,” said Singh.
SK Mittal, who heads the maintenance office at Prateek Wisteria, said: “Our DG set chimneys are within the prescribed norms. We have sent a reply to the UPPCB notice.” The management of the other two societies could not be reached for comment.
