Various private contractors who were found flouting anti-air pollution guidelines were heavily fined by the Noida Authority on Saturday.
The Noida Authority on Saturday said it issued penalties worth Rs. 11,15,000 to various private contractors and entities for flouting anti-air pollution guidelines and rules. It said the action has been taken as per the guidelines of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which came into force on Thursday amid deteriorating air quality in the Delhi-NCR region. On Saturday, the air quality index in parts of Noida remained in the “very poor” category.
“Four contractors were issued fines by the water department totalling Rs. 4 lakh for laying pipelines by violating environmental guidelines. Fourteen people were issued fines totalling Rs. 3,50,000 for violating the National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines,” the Authority said in a statement.
The public health department also imposed fines on private contractors engaged in mechanical sweeping of roads and door-to-door collection of garbage for laxity in their work, it stated. “Mechanical sweeping agency Chennai MSW was penalised Rs 1 lakh for irresponsible work and laxity, while AG Enviro, the contractor for door-to-door garbage collection, was also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh and sanitation contractor Onex Rs 25,000,” the Authority said. “The combined fines worth Rs 11,15,000 were issued on Saturday,” it stated.