New Delhi: Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said the Delhi Pollution Control Committee has fined the National Buildings Construction Corporation Rs 1 crore for violating the ban imposed on construction activities to curb air pollution in the city.
The pollution body has also ordered the construction agency to stop work at the site in Netaji Shubhash Nagar immediately, he said.
"On December 3 too, the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) was fined Rs 5 lakh for violating the ban at the same site.
Now, we have received reports of construction being undertaken at the site at night," Rai said.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee, in a notice to NBCC, said its officials conducted an inspection at the site following a media report on Thursday and it is evident that the construction activity is being done in a clandestine manner in violation of the directions of Commission for Air Quality Management and the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the national Capital on Friday recorded a maximum temperature of 20.4 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The city experienced a cold morning as the minimum temperature settled at 7.7 degrees Celsius, while the air quality remained in the 'very poor' category throughout the day.
According to the Ministry of Earth Science's SAFAR system, Delhi's air quality index (AQI) stood at 319 at 6 pm.
The relative humidity at 5.30 pm was 56 per cent, the weather office said.