Realising the “urgent” need to prevent air quality from further deterioration, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Friday constituted task forces for each of the National Capital Region (NCR) states Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. The commission said the task forces will implement, enforce, monitor and report compliance status of its orders, while noting that several cases of non-compliance had been reported in the recent past.
It has been observed that the implementation and compliance of various directions, orders and instructions issued by the commission leaves much to be desired and non-compliance has been reported. And, there is an urgent need to take further systemic preventive measures, as a matter of extreme emergency and abundant caution, to prevent the air quality from further deterioration.
In the above light… and towards improvement of air quality in Delhi and NCR, the commission, in exercise of its powers conferred upon it, hereby constitutes a specialized task force for each of states/GNCTD for the respective jurisdiction in NCR to implement, enforce, monitor and report the compliance status of various statutory directions and orders issued by the commission, it stated in an official order.
The task forces for each of the NCR states and Delhi shall comprise a chairperson, who could either be the principal secretary or secretary (environment) of the state government; a member, who will be the member secretary of the State Pollution Control Boards/Delhi Pollution Control Committee (SPCB/DPCC); technical members, who will be the technical representatives of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); and minimum three members, who will be the technical or administrative representatives from SPCB/DPCC.
Nine technical representatives from the CPCB have been selected for the NCR states with three each for Haryana and Delhi, two for Uttar Pradesh and one for Rajasthan.
The CAQM said the chairmen of the task forces may also co-opt suitable members for assistance towards effective implementation and monitoring. Besides the task force, the NCR state governments may also intensify inspections through inter-departmental teams and take strict action against violators as per extant legal provisions, it said.
The task forces will strictly implement the directions issued by the commission from time to time and report compliance status to the commission on a fortnightly basis on 1st and 16th of each month, it said. The commission said since its inception, it has been advising various policy initiatives and actions directed towards improving the air quality in the region, from time to time.
To this effect, it said, it has so far issued 45 statutory directions and seven advisories. Besides, important decisions have also been conveyed through the minutes of various meetings, to various agencies concerned in the NCR, it said. CAQM was constituted by the Ministry of Environment earlier this year for better coordination, research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in NCR and adjoining areas.
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