Notices issued to municipal bodies in Sonepat district for burning of waste

Taking a stringent note over the poor air quality, the Deputy Commissioner has served show-cause notices to the Municipal Corporation (MC) for the burning of garbage in the open, which is a serious violation under the Graded Response Action Plan-2 (GRAP-2). He also directed officials of the Agriculture Department to initiate action against farmers for burning paddy stubble in their fields.

Apart from this, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The district administration has initiated action against 21 farmers, of which 15 farmers have been booked while six have been fined for burning stubble in their fields.

With the dip in temperature, the air quality has deteriorated in Sonepat and Panipat these days. As per the record of the CPCB, the AQI of Panipat was 370 (very poor) on Wednesday while PM10 was recorded as severe. Similarly, in Sonepat, the AQI was very poor at 330.

Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar held a meeting with officers and directed them to deal with the violators strictly. He also directed them to register cases against farmers involved in burning of paddy residues in their fields.

He directed officials to make red entry on the mutation of the farmers’ land to implement the GRAP-2 norms strictly in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner directed that a committee, under the supervision of the SDM, be constituted at the sub-divisional level and water be sprinkled with smog-guns to reduce pollution.

The DC said a total of 53 locations of fire had been reported in the district. FIRs have been lodged against 21 farmers for stubble burning while action has been initiated against 15 farmers.

Show-cause notices have been served to officials of the urban local bodies, including the executive officer (EO) of Municipal Council (MC), Gohana; Secretary, Municipal Committee (MC), Kharkhoda and Kundli, and Chief Sanitary Inspector (CSI), Municipal Corporation (MC), Sonepat, for burning of garbage in open areas.

A joint team also found bulk waste burning near the NH-44 near Nathupur village. Taking serious note, the HSPCB imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 upon the Project Director of the NHAI.

Pradeep Singh, Regional Officer, Sonepat, said that special teams had been constituted to keep a check on violators of pollution norms.