In 1 yr, no penalties for dust pollution

Gurgaon: No entities, individuals, builders or companies have been fined or prosecuted by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB, North) since April 2018 for causing dust pollution, an RTI response has revealed.
“Despite the authorities making tall claims of implementing all measures under the graded response action plan (GRAP) to take action against sources of dust pollution, no penalties have been imposed on anyone on the account of dust pollution since April 2018. It shows the board is not serious enough to implement the GRAP measures,” RTI activist Aseem Takyar told TOI.

Residents alleged that the laxity of the board in taking action in complaints led to no penalties in the past one year. “I have filed multiple complaints with HSPCB in the past... No action has been taken till date,” said Vaishali Rana Chandra, a resident of Valley View society.

No action was taken despite that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) teams, while carrying out inspection drives in the city, reported 21 cases of dust emitting from construction and demolition activity, and 11 cases of road dust in the past three months. The complaints were uploaded on the Sameer application by the teams.

Officials of HSPCB said the RTI response has been given only for cases prosecuted for causing dust pollution. “There are two factors that should be considered. One, many times, HSPCB team carries out inspection drives along with other departments, including CPCB, MoEFCC and district administration, and the penalties are charged under the seal of sub-divisional magistrate. Second, the RTI application sought very specific details. While we have charged penalties in crores of rupees in the past 3-4 years, there might not be any penalty specifically for causing dust pollution. Also, it might be possible that a construction site is penalised for other related violations but not specifically for causing dust pollution,” said Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, HSPCB (North).