Collectively, construction sites are no insignificant contributors to dust pollution and their monitoring is vital to efforts to clean up air.
But for all the operational readiness that government agencies convey when the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) kicks in, here is a reality check – only 1% of construction sites in the city with an area of 500 square metres or more have registered on the portal set up for dust control.
There are around 3,000 large construction sites in Gurugram but just 30 are on the portal. It’s mandatory for construction sites bigger than 500sqm to install PM2.5 and PM10 sensors that send live feed to the portal, according to CAQM directives. But not a single large construction site has installed the sensors in Gurugram so far, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) said.
The lack of urgency, in sharp contrast to the approach needed to combat air pollution, say sources, seems to be a result of the state pollution control board not setting a deadline. Construction sites haven’t registered on the portal because HSPCB has neither set a time frame nor stipulated a penalty if anyone doesn’t register, though it has been made mandatory. “It is mandatory for the sites with an area of 500sqm or more to register on the portal,” admitted P Raghavendra Rao, the HSPCB chairperson.
“Few sites in Gurugram have registered in the portal. None of them have set up PM2.5 and PM10 sensors,” said Sandeep Singh, the HSPCB regional officer for Gurugram (south).
Asked how the pollution control board is checking construction sites’ pollutant levels, he said: “Once the construction sites register on the portal, we check if they following all dust control measures, including covering construction material and debris and using water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to not allow dust emissions, by checking the video feed of cameras installed at the site.”
The board is mostly focusing on sites with an area of more than 20,000sqm, HSPCB officials said. “We have informed the local civic agencies to sensitise construction sites in their respective areas for registration and installation of sensors,” said Kuldeep Singh, the regional officer for Gurugram (north).
He added that construction sites have been given a checklist for monitoring compliance of dust mitigation measures, which will be carried out through the portal. The list of dust control measures includes the use of anti-smog guns, water cannons, hoses, fire hydrants and sprinklers.
Haryana had launched real-time monitoring of pollution levels at construction and demolition sites in January. The portal features a live dashboard to reflect ambient air quality status at specific construction sites. This portal was launched as per the directions of CAQM on October 1, 2021.
The CAQM direction had stated, “All projects (on plot area equal to or greater than 500sqm) of construction and demolition in NCR have to mandatorily register at the web portal. Along with this, provision for video fencing equipped with remote connectivity technology will be incorporated in the web portal for effective and round-the-clock monitoring of compliance of dust mitigation measures by the project proponents. Further, the project proponents are required to install reliable and low-cost PM2.5 and PM10 sensors at the sites. It is mandatory for the proponents to install reliable and economical PM2.5 and PM10 sensors at the sites and link them to a platform with live dashboard accessibility for the pollution control board to monitor the activities.”
