Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas Directs Agencies to Halt Issuance of Completion and Occupancy Certificates for Projects Pending ‘Closure’ Orders
Towards better/ effective compliance of the statutory directions/ rules/ regulations issued for abatement of dust pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas (CAQM)vide Direction No. 79 has now mandated and directed all agencies in NCR responsible/ in-charge for issuance of Completion Certificate (CC)/ Occupancy Certificate (OC)not to issue CC/OC to any project against which “Closure” direction issued by CAQM is pending. Further, while considering applications for grant of CC/OC, agencies concerned have been advised to rely to the list of entities, whose resumptions orders are yet to be issued (list updated on a weekly basis) at the Commission’s official website, i.e.,https://caqm.nic.in/before considering applications for grant of CC/OC.
Dust from Construction & Demolition (C&D) activities is a major and consistent source of air pollution in NCR and contributes adversely to the PM10 and PM2.5 levels, consistently throughout the year, particularly during the summer season and thus needs to be addressed at all levels by various stakeholders concerned in NCR. On-site inspections of the C&D projects undertaken by the Flying Squads constituted by CAQM, indicate the need to significantly improve levels of compliance and effectiveness of implementation of various statutory directions/ rules/ orders/ guidelines by the project proponents at their project sites regarding dust mitigation.
Instances have also come to the notice of the Commission, where proponents, in total disregard of the of directions of closure and Advisory dated 06.04.2023 issued by CAQM, were found to be continuing with the C&D activities without due corrective/preventive measures to abate dust pollution and without resumption orders being issued by the Commission.
Serious concerns of dust levels attributed to C&D activities need to be addressed at all levels by various stakeholders concerned in NCR. In this context, building layout plans/ permissions/sanctions issued by various regulatory bodies thus need to strictly ensure inclusion of the provisions of directions, policy guidelines and other measures to mitigate dust pollution during the execution of the work. The level of compliance of such measures also need to be monitored from time to time by the officers concerned of regulatory/ inspecting/ certifying agencies.
Many of the infrastructure development activities including C&D projects are outsourced to various agencies. It thus becomes imperative that implementation and compliance of all the statutory directions, rules and guidelines is carried out effectively even through such executing agencies.
Accordingly, Municipal bodies/ ULBs and all related departments/ bodies of NCR State Govts./GNCT of Delhi have been advised to accordingly ensure that all building plan sanctions, tender notices, contract documents, agreements etc. in these sectors incorporate the provisions of rules, directions, guidelines and safeguards, for compliance towards effective mitigation of dust during execution of such projects. These agencies may also consider stipulating quality benchmarks in respect of this attribute in the contracts, duly calling for appropriate penal provisions and measures for environmental compensation in case of non-compliances. Regular inspection during execution of projects should monitor and ensure compliance of dust control rules, guidelines and directions issued by the Commission in this regard.