NCR not exempt from genset ban, says CPCB. But where are the power lines?

GURUGRAM: Diesel gensets can’t be used across NCR cities when the graded response action plan (GRAP) is in force, stated the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in a reply to an RTI query, though it will be impossible to implement the order in Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad unless discoms in these three cities come up with a formula to completely stop outages during winter.
The central pollution body in its reply (a copy of which is with TOI) to Aseem Takyar, a city-based activist, stated that the use of diesel gensets should be stopped under GRAP measures if the air quality index (AQI) reached the ‘very poor’ category. It also said the implementing agencies in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh should ensure that these norms are not flouted.

The Environment Pollution Control Authority’s (EPCA) chief Bhure Lal too reiterated that the city hadn’t been exempted from the ban on diesel gensets whenever pollution levels went up.

“The ban on use of diesel gensets is applicable across Delhi and NCR as per the GRAP notification of the CPCB. We have not given any exemption to these states when GRAP is in force. We have given exemptions only in case of emergency at nursing homes, hospitals and other essential services, and for those who got a no-objection certificate from discoms that power is not supplied to a particular area,” Bhure Lal told TOI.

Local authorities, on the other hand, claimed that the CPCB’s taskforce had exempted the city from the ban on gensets. “The CPCB’s notification is implemented by EPCA. However, a taskforce set up to implement GRAP decides the feasibility of these steps every year, and issues notification to the respective state. So far, we have not received any notification that says a ban on diesel gensets should be made mandatory,” said an official of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), Panchkula.

Both in highrise-dense Gurugram and Noida, residential towers and housing societies run on high-power diesel gensets because many of them don’t have an official power connection from discoms. Gurugram’s new sectors (58-115) run entirely on gensets because power substations have not yet been built for them and transmission lines are still under construction, a slow process whose deadline has not been clearly defined.

According to an estimate, there are around 10,550 diesel gensets of 500kVA capacity installed by over 3,303 entities in Gurugram. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in June this year pointed out that diesel gensets trigger a 30% increase in pollution levels.

Moreover, around 3,000 societies or entities are dependent on gensets of less than 500kVA capacity. According to an estimate, emission from a diesel genset of over 500kVA is as bad as pollutants emitted from five heavy-duty trucks.

Experts agreed gensets are a major cause of air pollution in the city. “Studies carried out by IIT Kanpur and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) show that while the contribution of transport sector is only about 30% and cars is less than 5%, the use of gensets is one of the main contributors of particulate matters and oxides of nitrogen,” Niranjan raje, a former member of EPCA and a resident of Gurugram told TOI.

Most condominiums in NCR provide uninterrupted power to residents by using diesel gensets that automatically switch on if an outage happens so that basic services like elevators are not disrupted. Since outages happen daily and are frequent, gensets are the lifeline of all housing societies.

According to GRAP measures, the use of diesel gensets should be stopped when pollution levels reach the ‘very poor’ category. While CPCB issues notification for GRAP, EPCA is the implementing agency.

Since October 1, the pollution levels hovered between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ categories in the city for 21 days.

As many as 900 townships and 5,000 commercial establishments in Gurugram depend on diesel gensets for power backup. The situation in new sectors is worse as most societies don’t have infrastructure for power supply, and thus rely only on diesel gensets.

“Inadequacies in power infrastructure is the fault of both the authorities and developers. We have written to the discom that says the developer should build sub stations in societies, while developers say that the sub-station at zonal level and block level are not ready. Due to this, the power can’t be supplied to societies. The authorities and the developer blame each other. We are not only paying huge prices to run diesel gensets day and night, but we are also keeping our health at stake as we are forced to live in polluted surroundings,” said Sadhna Khatri, a resident of a township in Sector 67.