Recently Arvind Kejriwal-lead Aam Admi Party, announced that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will not require a consent-to-establish (CTE) certificate from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). This might have made some traders happy but has raised many questions from the people of delhi who have to suffer from pollution every day.
In this one can’t ignore the current state of Delhi. In 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) rated Delhi as the world’s most polluted city. Eschewed as one of the world’s most polluted cities, Delhi is literally breathing unacceptable levels of toxic air because of skyrocketing levels of air pollution, according to a new data.
Irrespective of any such results showing alarming air pollution level, the Delhi government has allowed the removal of trees from an area of 46 hectares — running into more than 50 football fields — just to make DDA’s Qutub Golf Course (at Lado Sarai) as a world class golf course. Such project will chop down around 450 trees and still was passed under the termed “public interest”.
As per HT, a gazette notification issued in the name of Delhi’s Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and signed by the Capital’s environment secretary Sanjeev Kumar reads: “In public interest the government exempts an area of 46.06 hectares for re-development of Qutub Golf Course at Lado Sarai from sub-section (3) of section 9 of the DPTA”. The sub-section denies permission to cut trees “from the same area twice in a year, subject to a maximum area of one hectare at a time.”
Such clause helps to keep a check on cutting of trees in a big green area. We are yet to figure out how many (actual and non-political) ‘aam admi’ goes for golf or have ever been for it, but till the time the government take any major step in keeping a check on pollution, people of Delhi would remain exposed to the risk of wheezing to increased risk of asthma attacks.
The CTE may just be a white elephant to delay permission unless palms were greased. There are many businesses which just cannot cause pollution since no effluents emit from the business. Asking them to get a CTE is just increasing corruption. However, if later on they are found to be polluting, they can be closed which would cause a greater loss to the businessmen. So, we could say the decision is to make the businessmen exercise self control and eliminate corruption.
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