North, South Delhi municipal corporations intensify pollution control drives in city; collect Rs 30 lakh in fines

New Delhi: North and South Delhi municipal corporations on Thursday intensified drives to check pollution level in the city and imposed a total of Rs 30 lakh in penalty for violations, officials said. The zonal teams of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) intensified campaign to check pollution level in the city and imposed penalties, they said. “The building department of various zones also inspected areas for construction activities causing dust pollution, and garbage or leaves burning. During this exercise, zonal authorities issued a total of 435 challans worth about Rs 22 lakh for violations,” a senior SDMC official said. [caption id=“attachment_5491051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] He said the SDMC will further intensify its drive against violators. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Thursday also penalised such violators, besides constituting “43 teams for night patrolling in all of its six zones” for checking activities that add to air pollution, officials said. “The building departments of various zones also inspected areas for construction activities causing dust pollution. Violations such as garbage or leaves burning and construction activities not adhering to norms, were found at 39 sites and challans worth Rs 8 lakh were issued,” a senior NDMC official said. Fourteen challans were issued in Civil Lines Zone, the maximum among all zones, and thirteen in City-Sadar Paharganj Zone, the officials said. On the monitoring teams, the official said, teams would check any burning of garbage or leaves, or other activities, contributing to air pollution, and penalise violators. Besides more than 100 vehicles and six tankers were used for sprinkling water on streets falling under its jurisdiction, they said. Twelve mechanical sweeping machines were deployed for sweeping on wider roads after sprinkling water to control dust. East Delhi Mayor Bipin Bihari Singh on Thursday flagged off six mechanical sweeping machines for curbing pollution and distributed face masks to sanitation workers at a programme organised at the EDMC headquarters at Patparganj, officials said.