111 polluting units to be shut in NCR, air quality still 'very poor'

New Delhi: Even as the Supreme Court on Monday refused to urgently hear a plea from builders against the construction ban to control pollution, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the NCR has declared that their teams had identified 111 units for immediate closure after they were found not complying with various pollution control norms.

As many as 576 sites have been inspected so far by the 'flying squads' constituted by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to ensure compliance with the panel's directions to control air pollution, sources said on Monday.

Of the units that have been ordered shut, 28 are industrial sites violating emissions norms, 42 construction and demolition sites violating dust control norms and 41 sites found using diesel generator sets.

"Thirty of these sites are in Delhi, 23 in Haryana (NCR), 43 in Uttar Pradesh (NCR) and 15 in Rajasthan (NCR)," they added.

Twelve inspection teams each have been constituted for the NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, while four teams have been deputed in the national capital region (NCR) districts of Rajasthan.

But even as builders pleaded for the SC to reconsider the ban, Chief Justice NV Ramana said, "I will not take a call now. You go to the government. Let this matter come on Friday and then we will see..."

"Sorry, We can't," added the bench, which also comprised Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, when senior advocate Vikas Singh said that thousands of crores of rupees are being lost by real estate firms on account of the ban and the plea should be heard urgently, either on Monday or Tuesday.

The plea filed by the Developers and Builders Forum, a body of more than 60 builders, contended that they use the latest construction technology so as to reduce dust pollution and adhere to the laid-down norms.

The air quality reading on Monday was at AQI 322 — still in the "very poor" category.