Reducing construction dust will help clean Delhi

Extraordinary efforts must be made by developers in applying dust control measures specially at project sites

India is on the fast track to development; the scale of development and the construction projects around us has increased hugely in the last decade. As a result, air pollution, specifically caused by particulate matter (PM), has gained greater traction in our routine life. Being acute pollutants, particulate matters (PM 2.5 and PM 10) affect human health adversely. It gets worse in the winter. The reason for this is simple: at low temperature and stagnant conditions, environmental conditions are not favourable for pollutants to move from one place to another. This is why we face health problems such as choked throat, chest congestion, eye irritation and perpetual headaches through the winter.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a medium-term strategy to tackle the air pollution problem. The intent of NCAP is to achieve National Ambient Air Quality standards, and to meet this overarching goal, guidelines/protocols will be developed to mitigate air pollution from all major contributing sectors.

Since the construction sector is one of the major air pollution contributors in India, NC AP has mandated that construction activity has tobe stopped in Delhi/NCR, when the PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentration of 500 μg/m3 and 300 μg/m3 respectively persist for 48 hours or more. Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered 23 states and Union Territories to prepare an action plan to combatair pollution. The proposed action plan by each state needs to emphasise on the identification of pollutants from all possible sources such as vehicular, industrial, dust, construction, garbage burning, agricultural, includ- ing burning of crops/residues, and indoor.

While NCAP will act as a broad initiative in the direction of air pollution mitigation at the national and state level, there are existing stringent regulations that have to be followed for the sake of the environment. Before construction projects under different typologies and of different sizes commence work, the developers/contractors have to submit Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports and must have in hand approved environmental clearance reports from the concerned government body. Construction projects aspiring to get Green Building Rating Certification (GBRC) from GRIHA, IGBC and LEED, etc, also have to comply with the requirement of different credits/criteria of the corresponding green building rating system.

The EIA clearance is given to projects on certain commitments proposed to be implemented at the time of construction activity. The approved EIA report acts as a protocol to be referred to and implemented during construction stage. Similarly, the Green Building Rating Certification system clearly demonstrates at what stage which measure has to be complied with to mitigate air pollution. One of the requirements for the GBRC system specifies that prior to starting excavation, the site must be enclosed by a minimum three metre-high barricading all around the external periphery. The intent of the requirement is to avoid dust from spreading out of the premises and to protect the surrounding habitat.

India’s development agenda will require intense construction for another decade or so, which means the health problems arising from air pollution will continue to impact our lives in coming years. To overcome these to a certain extent, construction/ development projects should undertake a few rudimentary steps such as covering of loose/fine construction material and their storage in non-prevailing wind direction; sprinkling of non-potable water and provision of water trough for wheel washing at entry and exit gates; cutting and finishing stones in an enclosed area ; and restricting vehicular movement inside construction sites to a maximum speed of 10 km/ hour.

To combat dust pollution all of us must be more sensitive and dynamic in implementing environmental protection measures. Extraordinary efforts must be made by developers in applying dust control measures dedicatedly at project sites.

CONSTRUCTION IS A MAJOR AIR POLLUTION CONTRIBUTOR IN INDIA. NCAP HAS MANDATED THAT SUCH ACTIVITY MUST BE STOPPED IN DELHI /NCR, WHEN HIGH POLLUTION LEVELS PERSIST FOR MORE THAN 48 HRS

Sonia Rani is fellow and area convenor (sustainable buildings) at The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi The views expressed are personal