Air brakes on NH-24 upgrade work

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad district administration on Tuesday imposed a blanket ban on all construction work, including under-construction Delhi-Meerut Expressway (NH-24) and other projects by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and UP Bridge Corporation, with immediate effect.

The order was passed as the air quality deteriorated further on Tuesday, making Ghaziabad the most polluted city in the country for the second consecutive day. In the day, the AQI was recorded at 451, up from 430 on Monday. This is the fourth day on the trot when the city’s AQI remained in the ‘severe’ zone, forcing the administration to pull out all the stops to arrest the rising pollution graph.

“We have ordered an immediate stop to the construction work on Delhi-Meerut Expressway by the NHAI and two bridges at Mohan Nagar and Raj Nagar Extension by the UP Bridge Corporation, along with similar activities elsewhere in the city,” said Ritu Maheshwari, district magistrate.

“The ban has been enforced with immediate effect in keeping with the guidelines laid down by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and will remain in force till November 10. The ban could be extended further if the situation continues to remain grim,” added Maheshwari.

The administration has already stalled all private construction activities in the city, and district and pollution board officials are reportedly maintaining round-the-clock vigil to prevent any kind of any violation of pollution norms.

On Monday, a team of officials raided at least 14 private construction sites for flouting the EPCA order and slapped fines on the violators.

However, construction activities were reportedly in different parts of the city on Tuesday, too. For example, construction was going on in full swing at a site in Indirapram, and the work was stopped only after the violation was brought to the notice of the district magistrate.

On its part, the district pollution board shut down eight industries in different parts of the city for flouting green norms. “The factories that have been closed down include Continental Carbon factory along NH-24 and Vardhaman Thermopack on GT Road,” said AK Tiwari, district pollution board chief.

On Tuesday, Meerut range commissioner Anita Meshram held a meeting with pollution board officials, and issued directions for strict implementation of pollution-control measures. “The commissioner has sought strict enforcement of measures and has formed multiple teams, comprising magistrate, police and officers from industry department, to ensure compliance,” Tiwari added.

D Saha, former additional director and head of air quality management division in CPCB, said depression in eastern and northeastern India was preventing free flow of air from north or northwest, aggravating the pollution problem. “In next 36 hours, the depression is expected to get clear after which the air quality is likely to improve,” claimed Saha.

The air quality in Ghaziabad had started deteriorating since October 27, when it breached the 400-mark and kept climbing since then. The PM10 level was recorded at 607.18µg/m³ at 8pm on Tuesday, while PM2.5 level was at 366.92µg/m³.