Noida: 12 fined ₹50,000 each for failing to control dust pollution
Of the 12 violators, eight are Noida authority vendors, two are owners of a private plot in Sector 1, one is a private hospital in Sector 50 and one is an under-construction mall in Sector 75
The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Noida, has recommended slapping a fine of ₹6 lakh on 12 people and establishments who violated dust pollution norms between October 16 and 22 as part of the graded response action plan (GRAP), officials said on Saturday.
Of the 12 violators, eight are Noida authority vendors, two are owners of a private plot in Sector 1, one is a private hospital in Sector 50 and one is an under-construction mall in Sector 75. Officials said Noida authority vendors in Sectors 104, 76, 77, 79, 73, 58, 54 and 2 failed to take measures to check the spread of dust and contributed to air pollution.
The pollution board recommended slapping a penalty of ₹50,000 on each of them to the district administration.
“All the violations were related to dust pollution at the construction sites or other civil works. These are not very big violations, hence a nominal penalty of ₹50,000 was recommended. So far, there have been no incidents of waste burning ever since the GRAP came into effect,” said Utsav Sharma, environment engineer and regional officer (Acting) UPPCB Noida.
“Since most of the violators were vendors of Noida Authority, officials of respective department were told over a phone call to tell the vendors on the steps to be taken to control dust pollution,” he added.
Earlier this month, the district administration, on the recommendations of UPPCB, spotted eight pollution hotspots in the city including Sector 7X, where the maximum environmental violations were found and penalties imposed. The pollution board had suggested a slew of measures to control the air pollution under GRAP that came into effect this week.