CAQM lifts Haryana pollution board over dust monitoring lapses | Today’s news
New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has pointed out the continued non-compliance by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) in monitoring construction and demolition (C&D) sites, citing a widespread failure of webcam links required for remote monitoring of dust control measures.
The concerns raised by the CAQM, which works under the Union environment ministry and coordinates with Delhi’s neighboring states – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – to fight air pollution, comes ahead of the winter season when air quality in Delhi-NCR usually deteriorates.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the CAQM described the ongoing outages as “deliberate non-compliance” by the designated enforcement body. It asked the HSPCB to provide details of compliance and action taken on the notices issued by the commission.
CAQM is conducting sample-based remote monitoring of C&D sites through the HSPCB web portal from 2024, it said in a statement on Wednesday. In a review meeting chaired by CAQM chairman Rajesh Verma on September 8, the commission said that irregularities in HSPCB’s C&D monitoring portal persisted despite being repeatedly highlighted since 2024, it added.
Remote monitoring conducted between June 19 and 22 found that most of the camera links were down across the districts of the National Capital Region (NCR). Out of 213 active C&D sites in Panipat, 457 in Sonipat, 168 in Faridabad, 691 in Gurugram North and 484 in Gurugram South, functional connections were available only in four sites in Faridabad, six in Gurugram North and five in Gurugram South.
The CAQM communicated these findings to the HSPCB on July 8 and had earlier recommended the state pollution board to deploy a dedicated team for remote monitoring. However, the commission said that no such team had been deployed and there had been no substantial improvement.
Inconsistencies included incomplete camera links, incorrect credentials, links requiring mobile apps, broken URLs (uniform resource locator or web address), and cameras remaining offline despite successful login.
The authorities concerned have also been directed to strengthen monitoring and enforcement mechanisms so that the prescribed dust abatement measures are effectively implemented at C&D sites. The Commission has now directed the HSPCB to ensure strict adherence to its statutory guidelines, including taking corrective measures such as closure of non-compliant C&D sites. Authorities were also asked to strengthen monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of dust mitigation measures.
The directions assume importance as C&D activities are a major source of dust pollution in the National Capital Region. CAQM said timely implementation of its orders and statutory guidelines is essential to prevent and reduce air pollution across the region.
