NEW DELHI: Environment minister Gopal Rai held a surprise inspection of the BJP office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg and allegedly found construction work going on despite a city-wide ban since last week. The minister directed Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to halt the work and slap a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on L&T, the construction company. Later, Rai launched an attack on BJP alleging that its ideology favoured rising air pollution as the party gave support to bursting of firecrackers and didn’t help the Punjab government provide a cash incentive to farmers for not burning stubble. Reacting to Rai’s inspection, BJP said his allegations about construction taking place at the party office were fabricated and politically motivated with the sole agenda of “news-making”. Rai said, “During the inspection, large-scale irregularities were found at BJP’s under-construction office. DPCC was instructed to stop the construction work and impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh. Delhi government is actively working to prevent pollution in the city.” The minister, who also inspected other sites of government offices near ITO, allegedly found that stone-cutting work was being done covertly at the BJP office. The minister pointed out that pollution control measures under the third phase of Graded Response Action Plan, as recommended by the Centre’s panel on air quality for Delhi-NCR, CAQM, were currently active in the city, including a ban on construction activities, except for essential projects. “There are about 500 teams doing surveillance to prevent unauthorised construction or demolition work. Some departments and agencies have been allowed C&D activities based on the directives of CAQM. They have been given strict instructions to adhere to all regulations. Such sites are subject to inspections. If the norms are not adhered to, such sites will be closed,” Rai said. He added that pollution was expected to rise from November 1 and Delhi government was trying to control it by working on 10 focal points, including sprinkling water to control dust, monitoring hotspots, etc. Asked about stubble burning in Punjab, he said Punjab government was doing everything in its power to control it, but the Centre hadn’t agreed to provide monetary incentives. He claimed that stubble burning in Punjab would decrease this season. BJP national media coordinator Anil Baluni said, “Gopal Rai and other goons of AAP intruded in the Delhi BJP office and misbehaved with the security staff and party office-bearers. There was no construction taking place and such claims are false and only for media attention. Rai’s behaviour is reflective of AAP’s true character, which believes in anarchy and goondaism.”
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/rai-stops-work-at-bjp-office-dpcc-told-to-slap-rs-5l-fine/articleshow/95239099.cms