India News | Top UP Environment Officer Dissatisfied with Anti-pollution Measures in Noida
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A top officer of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change (EF&CC) department in Uttar Pradesh has expressed dissatisfaction with the inadequate anti-pollution measures in Noida and Greater Noida, and asked the local administration and authorities to ramp up efforts, sources said.
Noida, Nov 5 (PTI) A top officer of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change (EF&CC) department in Uttar Pradesh has expressed dissatisfaction with the inadequate anti-pollution measures in Noida and Greater Noida, and asked the local administration and authorities to ramp up efforts, sources said.
Additional Chief Secretary, EF&CC department, Manoj Singh visited the twin cities in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, adjoining Delhi, even as stringent measures under the GRAP-IV were implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR) amid deteriorating air quality.
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According to an official statement released after Singh held review meetings with Noida Authority CEO Lokesh M, Greater Noida CEO Ravi Kumar NG and District Magistrate Manish Kumer Verma, the top officer has asked them to ensure that there is no dust on the roads and no burning of garbage in the open.
"In the review meeting, the Additional Chief Secretary gave instructions to immediately clean the dust on the roadside, sprinkle water on construction sites and plant green grass on the roadside to prevent pollution. He also asked for large-scale plantation and no cutting of grass," the statement said.
Singh also gave instructions to the officers to strictly follow the guidelines of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), an anti-pollution panel formed by the Centre.
The meeting was also attended by Greater Noida Authority's ACEO Medha Rupam, ACEO Annapurna Garg, OSD Himanshu Verma, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board's Noida officer Utsav Sharma and Greater Noida officer D K Gupta, among others.
"During the meeting, the additional chief secretary expressed dissatisfaction over the inadequacy of the measures taken to counter the challenge of pollution in Noida and Greater Noida. He even said he hardly saw any water sprinkling being done on the roads when he came from Noida to Greater Noida," a source privy to the meeting told PTI.
At 4 pm on Sunday, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) for the last 24 hours was recorded at 414 in Noida and 410 in Greater Noida (both in the "severe" category), according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Meanwhile, Verma on Sunday evening ordered the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan-IV in Gautam Buddh Nagar with immediate effect and directed all departments concerned to ensure its strict implementation.
"Duties of district-level officers as sector magistrates for monitoring air pollution mitigation measures and sources have been ordered by the district magistrate," Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board's regional officer (Noida) Utsav Sharma said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)