Web portal for self-assessment of dust control norms launched

Update: 2021-10-07 18:59 GMT

New Delhi: Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday launched a web portal for self-monitoring of compliance of dust control guidelines at construction and demolition sites in the capital, even as the Delhi Pollution Control Committee reported that compliance rates had touched 90 per cent in the latest survey.

The city government also launched the anti-dust campaign on Thursday. It will continue till 29 October, he said.

"It is difficult to monitor all construction sites manually. We will try to bring all such sites on this web portal. The project proponents have to self-audit their compliance of dust control norms and upload a self-declaration on the portal on a fortnightly basis," Rai said.

The Centre's Commission for Air Quality Management had earlier asked Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to develop an online mechanism for monitoring of compliance of dust mitigation measures by project proponents in NCR. All project proponents are required to mandatorily register on the web portal.

The project proponents will be given scores based on their self-assessment. Action will be taken based on the scoring. A notice will be served through the portal itself, he said. There is also a provision to deposit a fine, if imposed, through the portal.

Starting next week, the government will train all state-run and private agencies engaged in construction and demolition in this regard, the minister said.

The training will be completed by October end and the DPCC will start monitoring the compliance of dust control guidelines at construction sites through the web portal from November 1.

Meanwhile, the DPCC noted that compliance with dust control norms had increased significantly since the reported 63 per cent in November-December last year. The latest survey in the July-August period reported a 90 per cent compliance rate.

DPCC teams inspected 11,489 sites in November December last year. Of these, 7,288 (63 percent) were found complying with the dust mitigation measures, DPCC data showed.

Ninety percent of the sites inspected in July-August this year 5,049 out of 5,619 adhered to the norms. Inspections were conducted at all construction sites, irrespective of their sizes.

"The change in air quality, significant or not, due to the increased compliance of dust mitigation measures can be ascertained once the project proponents install sensors at their construction and demolition sites. The data from these sensors will be uploaded on the web portal launched for self-monitoring of compliance," said DPCC Member Secretary K S Jayachandran.

In January-February, 8,827 (74 percent) of the 12,006 sites inspected were found adhering to the dust control guidelines. The compliance increased to 78 percent in March-April as 5,237 of the 6,712 sites followed the measures. It further increased to 91 percent in May-June 2,942 of the 3,231 sites found complying with the guidelines, according to the DPCC data.

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