LG Expresses Displeasure Over 'Delay' In Ordering Pollution Control Measures By Delhi Govt: Sources

In what Saxena termed "gross negligence", the critical order to mitigate air pollution in the city should have been issued by the chief secretary back in October but hasn't been issued yet, the sources in the LG office said.

"The lapse on the part of the Delhi government is due to the fact that Environment Minister Gopal Rai did not clear the file related to issuing such orders for about a month," a source claimed.

The chief secretary, in compliance with a November 2019 order of the Supreme Court order and an order of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) dated August 5, 2022, sent the file for approval to Rai on October 22.

"The file was returned to the chief secretary on November 17 without any observation of the minister. Afterwards, the chief secretary sent the file to the LG and was approved," the source said.

Approving the file, the LG expressed "dismay and displeasure" at the Delhi government's "gross negligence" in this matter and asked that it be conveyed to the chief minister and environment minister, the sources said.

The "much-delayed" order is expected to be issued now, they said.

Issuance of the order by the chief secretary would have made it mandatory for departments to fix responsibility of the concerned officers to ensure that measures for management of construction and demolition, waste and dust control, water sprinkling at pollution hotspots, repairing roads, closure of industries in non-conforming areas, banning open burning of biomass and solid waste, pollution under control (PUC) certificate enforcement, among others, are taken.

-With PTI Input