Dwarka has become notorious for the deadly air pollution levels of late. Especially, the Sector 8 area is causing a lot of damages to the people. As per the data, the Air Quality Index (AQI) often crossed 1000-mark at Sector 8.
Seeing the gravity of the issue, DDA, MCD and CPCB have made inspections at the area. A CPCB team under the leadership of its chief Bhure Lal visited the area and penalised the violators of pollution norms.
Lal instructed officials to address the issue and make sure that the pollution levels come down. But, no improvement has been seen since then.
Ex-president of the RWA, P Bhel said, “The area has never been taken seriously despite the highest level of pollution. Nothing happened despite the visit of administrators earlier. Still, construction norms are being violated and garbage burning continued.”
Residents said that the attention of the administration was there when the area was highlighted in the media and the pollution was in an alarming stage. They said that instead of any improvement, the pollution levels increased after that.
Vice president of Dwarka Forum and a resident of Sector 8, Arvinder Singh said, “RWAs should also be given the responsibility of monitoring pollution in the area. There must be a constant monitoring by the officials with the help of residents. This is the only model which could help.”
It also came to the notice that there were unauthorised small factories operating in the area which was adding to the pollution woes. Officials of South Delhi Municipal Corporation said that they sealed many such factories but the pollution level suggests that the factories are still operating.
The residents complained that dust particles are there in the air round the clock. The area also witnesses massive authorised and unauthorised constructions. They said that the authorities must take the matter seriously.
A resident of the area, Seema Sharma has developed asthma in a couple of months due to constant dust pollution. She said, “The entire area is not worth living. Nothing was done by either DDA or Corporation. Not a single step was taken by the authority.”
