New Delhi: The Delhi government on Tuesday issued a notice to stop work at the BJP headquarters here and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on private firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd for violating the ban on construction and demolition work imposed in view of worsening air quality in the city, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Tuesday.
Officials said the minister noticed construction work at the BJP headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg while he was returning after inspecting a construction site of the Unique Identification Authority of India.
"The workers said the work concerned the BJP's national headquarters. It is a complete violation of CAQM's orders. We have issued an order to stop work at the site and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the construction agency L&T," Rai told reporters.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) — a statutory body formed in 2021 to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR — had on Saturday directed authorities to impose a ban on construction and demolition activities in Delhi-NCR, except in
essential projects, and other curbs under stage three of the Graded Response Action plan (GRAP).
Gopal Rai said the city government has resolved 90 percent of the air pollution-related complaints it received through the Green Delhi mobile application since October 1.
The minister also said the ban on firecrackers in Delhi resulted in the cleanest Diwali in seven years.
Rai said 68,500 challans were issued to vehicle owners not having a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate in August and September.More than 20 lakh PUC certificates were issued during this period.
The ideology of the BJP favours rising air pollution levels as the party voiced support to bursting of firecrackers but did not help the Punjab government provide a cash incentive to farmers for not burning crop residue, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged on Tuesday.