New Delhi, Nov 16 (UNI) In view of deteriorating air quality, a six-member special task force was formed on Thursday under the leadership of the Environment Special Secretary for proper implementation and monitoring of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP-IV) rules in the national capital.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced the task force after a review meeting held at the Delhi Secretariat with the officers concerned to ensure strict compliance with GRAP-IV rules, the Office of the Environment Minister said in a communique.
Providing the details, Rai said, “The task force includes the Special Commissioner of Transport, DCP (HQ) Traffic Police, Deputy Commissioner, Revenue (HQ), Chief Engineers of MCD and PWD will be the members. The main work of the task force will be to coordinate with the concerned departments and remove the problems faced by them and give the implementation report to the government.”
Due to the current situation of pollution, environmental experts believe that for the next 2 to 3 days, it will remain in the “very poor” category. In the meeting, it was also reviewed what action has been taken against those who violate the rules of GRAP so far, the Delhi Environment Minister claimed.
Regarding strict enforcement of GRAP-IV, Rai said, “The ban on the operation of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel LMV (4 wheelers) under GRAP-4 has been implemented. So far, 16,689 BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles have been fined. If anyone violates this, a fine of Rs 20 thousand will be imposed under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. For this, 84 teams of the Transport Department and 284 teams of Delhi Police have been deployed.”
The constructions have been banned in Delhi due to air pollution in the city. “So far, teams have carried out on-site inspections of 3895 construction sites under GRAP. Challans have been issued to 921 construction sites and a fine of Rs 1.85 crore has been imposed. A total of 591 teams have been deployed. They are inspecting construction sites going on at different places inside Delhi and taking action on violations of norms. All teams have been instructed to carry out continuous inspections,” it said.
