It's Dust Everywhere, Says Law Student In His Letter To DPCC As Road In DU Remains Dug Up For Months

On Friday noon, the levels of PM2.5 (atmospheric particulate matter (PM) that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) and PM10 (PM with a diameter of less than 10 micrometers) at North Campus of Delhi University were 406 and 100 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3), respectively. By 4 PM, both the figures had come down by just two units.

The permissible limit of PM2.5 is 60 μg/m3, while for PM10 it is 100 μg/m3.

The figures at DU fall in the deep red category on the Air Quality Index, which means 'severe' and can affect healthy people and seriously impact those already dealing with various ailments.

Dust, without reservations, has been recognised as one of the major pollutants in Delhi air and increases particulate matter.

Despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Delhi High Court expressly identifying dug up roads as one of the major causes of dust and directing immediate repair of any road cut or dug for utility work, a Law student has been forced to write to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Delhi Police to immediately restore a road in Delhi University that had been dug up by the Delhi Jail Board some months ago and then left as it is.

Subham Jain, a second-year Law student of Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, Delhi University, has written to the Member Secretary, DPCC, and also met the police at the Maurice Nagar Police Station urging them to get the road outside Ramjas College repaired as the dust has made routine life difficult.

"The road adjacent to our college, more specifically Sudhir Bose Marg, in front of Ramjas College and Prof N D Kapoor Marg, has undergone massive road cutting for laying of Delhi Jal Board pipelines and the road has been lying unrepaired since the past few months.

"This has caused huge trouble to the passers-by especially the students of colleges in that particular area as the dust is dispersed in the ambient air due to vehicular movement. The classrooms adjacent to the road are always full of dust causing severe breathing problems to the students," the letter read.

The letter spoke of NGT's directions in Vardhaman Kaushik v Union of India and the suo motu cognizance taken by the Delhi High Court and demanded necessary action against the Delhi Jal Board and the Public Works Department under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

Jain was forced to write letter even as the Delhi government had last year announced a revised road restoration policy and also decided to impose a fine on the road digging agency if it digs up the road for public work but fails to repair it within 15 days and register a case in case of default.

As a student of Law faculty, which is close to Ramjas College, besides residing close to the varsity, Jain is struggling with dust and the resultant pollution.

He was motivated to write to the authorities concerned after he met environment activist Aditya Prasad at an alumni meet last month. Prasad guided him in the right direction and use all available remedies to get a cleaner environment.

Jain also met the police personnel at the Maurice Nagar Station and apprised them of the court orders. He was assured of action but nothing has been done so far.

Reacting to it, Prasad says, "I feel the motivation we have for justice and the rule of law as students is something diminishing. Subham is trying his bit to rebuild it and I will help him to the best of my abilities."

Agencies like MTNL, TPDDL and DJB, dig road for utility services while road owning agencies such as the PWD, New Delhi Municipal Council, the three Municipal Corporations and National Highways Authority of India also do the digging for construction.

Under revised road restoration policy, whoever digs up the road is supposed to restore it. This was in contrast to the earlier practice where the agency which dug up the road used to pay to the road owning agency for repair work.

NGT and Delhi HC ordered against roads lying unrepaired

Jain, who has also served as a para legal volunteer on a committee constituted by the NGT for the implementation of policies to check noise pollution, says he has been seeing the road in question dug up for months now and everyone in the area is struggling with the dust.

The same is reflective of poor execution of courts' orders as in year 2014, the NGT had ordered that no construction activity would be carried out and no digging would be done even on the roads/highways or constructions sites.

Even the Delhi High Court recognised construction aOd road dust as major causes of pollution when it took sup motu cognizance of the air pollution in Delhi that made headlines across the world.

In its order dated September 9, 2015, a division bench of the high court noted that the debris lying along the roads which have been dug up for public works or repairs was one of the major contributors of dust and particulate matter in the air.

"We have also noticed that one of the major contributors of particulate matter and particularly, particulate matter 2.5 is the existence of malba/ debris which lies along roads, which have been dug up for repairs/construction etc. Because the debris is not removed fully and the roads, when dug up, are not fully repaired, there is a lot of generation of particulate matter which is a major cause of air pollution in Delhi. We, therefore, deem it fit and proper to direct the Engineers-in-Chief of the three municipal corporations of Delhi to immediately conduct a survey of all the roads falling within their jurisdiction and to ensure that all debris/ malba is removed from those roads after completion of the work as stipulated under the DMC Act, 1957 and/or any rules or regulations or policies made thereunder. A similar direction is issued to the Engineer-in-Chief, PWD in respect of the PWD roads. A similar direction is also given to the Chief Engineer, New Delhi Municipal Council. The Cantonment Board shall also ensure compliance," it had ordered.

Days later, in its next order on October 20, 2015, the bench once again duly recognized the menace of dust in Delhi's air and how dug-up, ill-repaired roads were a contributor.

It, therefore, felt necessary that "whenever any road cutting takes place or any digging of portions of the roads or alongside the roads is done by any of the agencies in Delhi, the same is done in such a manner that as soon as the work is completed, it should be closed and repaired so that there is no malba, which can give rise to particulate matter. All the authorities concerned, which include the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council, the Cantonment Board, the PWD, and the CPWD, shall ensure that the regime, that is in place, is followed in letter and spirit".

The orders remain on paper till date. Jain says he would explore other remedies too.