Even though the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has made use of dust screens (green nets) mandatory at all construction sites, a section of city-based builders are still not following the norm.
The NMC, in January 2020, had come up with this rule in order to curb air pollution. Initially, all the construction sites used the dust screens, but with time a section of the builders started to give the nets a miss.
As per recent survey carried out by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), dust contributes to over 24% for the poor air quality of the city.
Many new residential and commercial projects are coming up across Nashik, especially on the outskirts of the city. But barely 20% of these projects are seen using the dust screens. Environmentalist Rajesh Pandit said the NMC needs to take action against the errant builders.
“If notices are served and building plan approvals are cancelled, then the builders will start complying with the rule. Apart from this, the NMC also needs to widely publicise the rule and should provide a platform to the people where they can upload photographs or provide information about the construction sites that are not using the dust screen,” he said.
When contacted, Vijay Mundhe, deputy commissioner of the NMC, said a survey will be carried out at all construction sites through the town planning department to ensure the use of dust screens. “We will issue notices to builders who are not using the green nets at their construction sites,” said Mundhe.
Meanwhile, Ravi Mahajan, Nashik chapter president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), said the builders must use the dust screens at the construction sites to prevent the spread of dust.
“It (the green nets) is compulsorily being used in high-rise building projects, but avoided in small projects. The NMC should take action and serve notices to those builders who are not using the dust screens,” he said.
