4 pm, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon: Had it not been April, the poor visibility would had been mistaken for winter fog. But this thick cover is a dust cloud, billowing from construction sites on either side of the road, less than 25 km from the national capital. At these sites, there are no cover scaffoldings, no hosing of roads to reduce dust dispersal. Policemen on duty are wearing masks, the pedestrians clutching handkerchiefs to face. All wear a fine layer of dust.
Multiply this scenario 1,34,000 times.
That’s the area, just under 1 lakh hectares — 1,34,000 football fields — that’s been constructed upon in the last decade in the National Capital Region, with Uttar Pradesh (Noida, Greater Noida) and Haryana (Gurgaon) showing the largest increase. In tune with the rise of the killer dust (RSPM, respirable suspended particulate matter) in the city’s air as first reported in this series, from 161 µg/m3 in 2007to 316 in 2014.
With the city swelling in numbers, and in size, construction has been rampant to meet three essential demands — of housing in the NCR, infrastructure development in Delhi, and the Metro in newer areas.
Spread over three phases, the Metro network will reach 330 km by December 2016. Metro officials say since the very beginning, they have taken care to prevent dust accumulation at construction sites.
DMRC managing director Mangu Singh said: “We set up environmental sustainability units at every construction site to ensure environmental practices were followed. We also set up RSPM measuring units. Everywhere, we have tried to ensure levels don’t cross what they were in the past.” Construction sites, he said, were covered with mesh or tarpaulin, excavated soil was kept wet, and plantation activity was undertaken.
Construction also requires brick kilns, cutting green cover, and both add to air pollution even before construction starts. Brick kilns were ordered out of Delhi in 1996. But a number of them have come up on its borders in the last decade because of the construction boom. A study published in 2013 in the journal Atmospheric Environment said the kilns, “polluting and energy-inefficient”, account for 11%-15% of particulate matter emissions in Delhi.
On green cover, the Delhi government points to the State of Forest Report 2013 which indicates an increase of 3.61 sq km, from 176.2 sq km in 2011 to 179.81 sq km in 2012. But in October 2014, the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) told the National Green Tribunal that the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP have been responsible for “shrinkage” of natural conservation zones, including the protected Aravali ridge forest, due to “non-implementation of policies of the
