What is the major source of pollution in Gzb? Construction waste & unpaved roads: UPPCB

Ghaziabad: The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board identified construction waste and unpaved roads as the major sources of pollution in Ghaziabad on Saturday. Industrial and vehicular emissions and open-air garbage burning are also contributing to the deteriorating air quality.
“We have conducted an independent analysis and concluded that dust pollution, either from construction waste or unpaved roads, is the major local pollution source in Ghaziabad,” said Utsav Sharma, regional pollution officer, UPPCB. He added that a pollution source apportionment study was commissioned to IIT Delhi last year but its report hasn't been received yet.
On the steps taken to rectify the situation, Sharma said, “We carried out a survey of dust pollution hotspots last year and have penalised offenders.” To control industrial pollution, he said the board has ordered the closure of 350 industries using pollution fuels across 11 zones in Ghaziabad. Meanwhile, all industries had been instructed to install factory names on chimneys to identify which were emitting toxic fumes. At least 85% of the industries have complied with the order, the UPPCB regional officer claimed.
However, Vikrant Sharma, a city-based environmentalist, refuted many of his claims. “The meteorological conditions that contribute to pollution are beyond the agency’s or administration’s control. However, controlling construction and demolition waste and dust pollution is definitely within their control and they have failed miserably in that,” the environmentalist said.
In UPPCB’s dust pollution survey, Indirapuram’s CISF Road had emerged as the worst polluted area. However, the environmentalist noted that "even after a year, the situation is very much similar to what it was last year.” He also claimed that many industries were still using polluting fuels. “Loni, for example, is the hub of illegal polluting factories. This is out in the open and UPPCB, in all these years, has not taken steps to control this.”
Talking about the work GMC is doing to control pollution, commissioner Mahendra Singh Tanwar said, “Under the 15th Finance Commission, we were allotted Rs 121 crore in two instalments to control pollution. To date, we are working on improving the condition of roads. A sum of Rs 42 crore has been earmarked to control road dust and Rs 20 crore will be spent on green-topping of pavements.”
He also claimed that Rs 10 crore was to be used for replacing 579 diesel-run vehicles owned by GMC. At least 60% of those vehicles are already using CNG, he claimed. Meanwhile, ten water sprinklers and mechanized road sweeping machines are in use to control dust pollution on roads, he added.
However, Vikrant Sharma opined, “More than Rs 100 crore has been disbursed to GMC for taking pollution control measures. As far as the expenditure is concerned, Ghaziabad’s most dust polluted stretch, CISF Road, hasn’t been attended to. So, nothing has changed on the pollution front and it is only getting worse each year.”
Another concern on the pollution front is that the number of vehicles in Ghaziabad has increased from 4.06 lakh in 2011 to 11.83 lakh till October 2021. However, RTO officials claimed that steps were being taken to control vehicular emissions. “Autos and three-wheelers have been converted into CNG vehicles and private passenger vehicles are also being equipped to run with CNG. In addition, we are carrying out drives against vehicles which are 10 to 15 years old, with reasonable success” said an RTO official.