Anti-dust campaign: Delhi govt releases guidelines for construction sites

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Saturday released a 14-point guideline for construction sites to follow in order to check dust pollution during the winter season in the city.
The guidelines were released as part of the month-long anti-dust campaign, which will start on October 7. The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, criticised the AAP government for making grand announcements such as 14, 17, or 21-point pollution control projects every year without any tangible results on the ground
Rai, speaking at a press conference, said, “People involved in any kind of construction work — whether personal, private or government — must ensure compliance with these guidelines,” He added that all concerned sites have a week to rectify any wrongdoing, following which strict action will be taken.
Some of the directions that construction sites have been given include the installation of a wall of tin sheets around the site to mitigate the spreading of dust; anti-smog guns around sites that are larger than 5,000 sq m; providing all workers with proper dust masks; having health kits and medical facilities on sites; among others.
Further, to tackle vehicular dust pollution, Rai said 85 mechanical road sweeping machines, 500 water sprinklers, and 200 mobile anti-smog guns have been deployed. The minister said the government has deployed 523 team from 13 departments to monitor compliance of the guidelines across the city.
The development comes days after the Delhi government on September 25 launched a comprehensive 21-point Winter Action Plan, which focussing on real-time monitoring of pollution using drones, deploying special task forces, and putting into action emergency measures such as artificial rain and vehicle rationing schemes to tackle rising air pollution levels in the Capital.
The anti-dust campaign is part of the winter plan.
To be sure, the Delhi government makes a Winter Action Plan every year, but it has little impact on peak pollution, which plunges the city into a public health emergency.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva criticised the AAP government for making grand announcements like 14, 17, or 21-point pollution control projects every year without any tangible results on the ground, and said that making pollution a political issue and using it for self-promotion is Arvind Kejriwal and Gopal Rai’s agenda. He questioned how the government plans to clean the 28,000km of roads covered with dust, and how they are managing the debris at intersections and sludge from drains.
He said that Gopal Rai must explain why, despite claims of reducing pollution, Delhi’s AQI (air quality index) sets new records every year. He said that approximately 2.5 million children in Delhi suffer from lung diseases, and the blame lies solely with Kejriwal and his government.