Construction sites flout National Green Tribunal norms in Lucknow

A day after Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) imposed monetary penalty on seven private contractors in the city for violating National Green Tribunal (NGT) norms regarding construction work, but in reality rules being violated in several areas.

As per the NGT norms, the construction sites must control dispersion of dust into the atmosphere by covering the sites with green nets and sprinkling of water. The measures are important because the huge amount of dust raised from construction sites combines with the mist/fog in the winters to form smog, which in return deteriorates air quality, causing several health issues among people.

The district administration had also issued strict instructions to all civic and development agencies on Friday for implementation of NGT guidelines.

However,norms being ignored at several private construction sites in many areas, including Rajajipuram, Alambagh, Jankipuram Extension, Gomtinagar Extension, Indiranagar, Niralanagar, Raebareli Road, IIM Chauraha, Aashiana and LDA Colony.

Abhishek Gupta, a resident of Rajajipuram, said, “My grandmother, who is already suffering from asthma, gets really troubled due to the under-construction house in my locality especially during these winter times when fog and smog makes breathing difficult.”

People also complained that the construction debris piled up on the roads also became a cause of accidents and traffic jams.

“I was returning home from the college on a two-wheeler with my brother when we lost balance and got injured due to the sand and stones left unattended by workers of a construction site near my house,” said Deepika Joshi, a resident of Nirala Nagar.

Not only some private developers, construction norms were also not being followed at the construction work of a flyover on Rae Bareli Road. The local contractor at the site refused to comment when asked about the reason.

Municipal commissioner Ajay Dwivedi said that teams under command of executive engineers have been deployed in all eight zones of the city to impose monetary penalties on developers violating NGT norms at construction sites.