News: Built to resist? Delhi gasps for air, pays no heed to construction ban-04-11-2023
: Despite the hazard to health posed by the worsening air in Delhi, people do not seem too worried about their lungs or the law. On Friday, a TOI team went around the city to find that the anti-pollution measures announced under stage III of the Graded Response Action ncluding a ban on nonessential construction and repair activities, were being nonchalantly ignored on the ground.
At a residential construction site in Samaspur near Patparganj, east Delhi, there were around eight construction workers who carried on their duties unaware of the ban on construction activities. Sanjay Kumar, 40, said, "We have been hired by a contractor to complete work on this floor and we have to finish the plastering and other work."
A few kilometres away in Pandav Nagar, Yogender, 73, a landowner was overseeing the construction of his three-storey building in the locality. "We know of the ban, but we cannot halt the work here because that would delay our project," he said. "We hired these labourers and if we ask them not to work for a few days, who will pay them their wages for this period?
building, said crossly, "The government should increase the water sprinklers to check dust pollution and curb other main sources of air pollution such as vehicular emissions and roadside dust instead of prohibiting all construction activities."
Sumit, 28, a migrant worker from Bihar who had been hired to paint a house in the area, expressed worry about the pollution measure. He said, "This is the festival season and we get the maximum work at this time of the year. We can't refuse any work because this is the biggest opportunity to earn some money. Having no work for one month because of the ban will mean having no income in a usually remunerative month."
Construction activities were also under way in several other locations in south Delhi, and in north Delhi. At Adarsh Nagar, construction workers claimed that the contractors had asked them to cover the materials and debris with tarpaulin if they got wind of municipal authorities arriving for inspection. In south Delhi, construction projects were covertly progressing, the work concealed under green tarpaulins and obscured entrances. On the roads, one saw groups of masons who seemed unaware of the restrictions.
Moreover, work at many such sites continued without the contractors employing measures such as water sprinkling, dust covering, etc. While private construction at least remained hidden, official construction projects went on openly. In Okhla, significant road stretches were dug up by agencies like Delhi Jal Board and MTNL without barricading and proper enclosure of construction zones. In Jangpura, piles of construction debris lay in the open on roadsides in contravention of antipollution norms.
