‘Fourfold rise in inspections in industrial areas’

To control pollution in the city, the Delhi government is aiming to increase inspections in all 28 industrial areas by four times compared to last winter, an official said.

Following the directions of the erstwhile EPCA (Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority), the government has been working to control polluting activities in industrial areas since August last.

“We have formed 30 teams of engineers for inspections in industrial areas. The drive will go on for four months,” a Delhi government official told The Hindu.

In Mandoli industrial area, ₹25 lakh has been recovered for various violations since August last. The DPCC has been carrying out random night patrols every 10-15 days, officials said.

“When we started the drive, most of the units didn’t even have boards for us to identify them. Now, all of them have boards with names. The situation has improved considerably,” said Siddhartha Gautam, a DPCC official who carried out the drive in Mandoli industrial area.

The DPCC is currently in the process of filing cases against four units, which were found melting copper and aluminium without following procedure in the area.

“In August-September last year, we had closed down 32 illegal units operating in Pratap Nagar (a residential area) close to Mandoli industrial area. Also, from August 2020 to March 2021, we shut 20 units operating in the industrial area running without approval and on unapproved fuel,” Mr. Gautam said. About 13 units, which were burning wire to obtain copper, were also closed down during the same time period.

In Mandoli industrial area, there are 150 units of which nearly 90 are involved in melting copper or aluminium, the official said. “They melt these metals and make ingots (a brick of metal). These are then supplied to other units, which use them to make wires or other objects,” the official said.

The units are supposed to register with DPCC and use PNG as fuel. “We go on surprise checks and check whether the PNG meter is running. We also regulate their PNG use over months and if there are sharp falls in use, we keep track of such units as they may be using other polluting fuel,” the official added.

Last month, 56 units using polluting fuels in Amit Vihar of Uttar Pradesh, which borders the Mandoli area, were demolished following a joint operation, as per the DPCC.