3 min readNew DelhiMay 26, 2010 11:57 PM IST
First published on: May 26, 2010 at 11:57 PM IST
The closure of polluting units in Nangloi village in the wake of a Delhi High Court order in March has brought to light that a large number of industries,totally prohibited within the Capital,were also operational in the area for years. The second status report,set to come up before the court on Wednesday,says that apart from other de-notified units,several paint manufacturing and metal polishing units were operational in the area.
In March,a Division Bench headed by the then acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur had directed hundreds of polluting industrial units to shut shop. Expressing concerns about pollution affecting the health of people residing in these areas,the Bench had sought strict compliance of the Supreme Court ruling in the M C Mehta case whereby the government was obligated to close all hazardous units.
The order came on a PIL filed by Mahavir Singh,who alleged that hundreds of illegal units are operating in villages like Nangloi,Ghevra,Neelwal and Mundka. The court had asked the authorities to start with polluting units in Nangloi and finish the clean-up within four weeks.
The first status report in the case was submitted before the Bench on April 15. The report moved by Delhi government’s Standing Counsel Najmi Waziri contended that 36 units were closed by then. Satisfied,the court then had asked the SDM to continue the operation till the area was completely cleaned-up. A total of 80 units have been shut down till now.
Meanwhile,with the shutting down of the units,residents in the area have reported a perceptible improvement in the quality of the air along with better availability of water and power. “I have been living here since childhood. When I completed my LLB,I first thought of filing a PIL against the units. Though I could not do so,somebody else’s plea has finally ushered in relief. The amount of dust and other particles in the air has come down,” said Rajeev,an advocate who lives in the area.
Corroborating this,a Delhi Pollution Control Committee officer said they would soon be conducting a formal study to analyse air quality.
“The action is certainly welcome and it will have a positive impact. The residents will not just have more water at their disposal because of the improvement in ground water level but it will also be cleaner as there are no dumping areas for industrial wastes now,” said V K Jain,an environment activist who heads Tapas,an NGO.
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