New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and Adjoining Areas conducted an inspection drive to assess compliance and effectiveness of corrective measures undertaken by road-maintaining agencies on 133 stretches, an official said on Thursday.
The inspection undertaken on Wednesday was a part of CAQM’s continuous monitoring and ongoing enforcement efforts under the statutory framework and provisions of the extant Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the official said in a statement.
The drive focused on the assessment of accumulation of visible road dust and on-ground operations of Mechanical Road Sweeping Machines (MRSMs), along with identification of instances of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) accumulation, Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste accumulation and cases of open burning.
A total of 15 teams of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) for inspection of 106 road stretches maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD) and two teams of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for re-inspection of selected 27 road stretches under the jurisdiction of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) were deployed under the directions of the Commission.
Geo-tagged and time-stamped photographic documentation was collected and submitted to the Commission as part of the consolidated inspection report.
During the re-inspection of 27 road stretches maintained by DDA, which were earlier reported with high visible dust levels during inspections conducted on December 12, it was observed that none of the stretches fell under the High Dust category on Wednesday.
Out of these stretches, seven were found with Moderate Dust levels, 19 recorded Low Dust intensity, and one stretch was found to have No Visible Dust. “This indicates a marked improvement in the overall upkeep of these road stretches, reflecting the impact of corrective measures undertaken by the agency following the earlier inspection by CAQM,” the statement said.
Simultaneously, inspection of 106 road stretches maintained by PWD revealed that 09 stretches exhibited High Visible Dust levels, 16 showed Moderate Dust, 37 recorded Low Dust intensity and 44 stretches were found to have No Visible Dust.
On certain stretches observed with high dust intensity, accumulation of MSW and C&D waste, as well as instances of open burning, were also reported, indicating the need for strengthened on-ground enforcement and upkeep by the concerned agency, it said.
The Commission observed that while the re-inspection results of DDA-maintained road stretches indicate improvement and responsiveness to the directions issued earlier, the inspection of PWD-maintained road stretches highlights persisting gaps in effective road maintenance and dust control and requires immediate and sustained corrective action.
The Commission emphasised the need for regular mechanical sweeping, timely lifting and disposal of collected dust and waste, maintenance of road stretches and central verges, effective deployment of water sprinkling and dust-suppression mechanisms, and strict prevention of open burning across all stretches, the statement said.
The Commission reiterated that targeted inspection and re-inspection exercises under ‘Operation Clean Air’ will continue to be carried out actively to ensure strict adherence to its Statutory Directions for dust mitigation and prevention of open burning, to keep road stretches across Delhi clean and dust-free.
(IANS)
