The Delhi government has lifted the ban on construction and demolition activities in view of an improvement in the air quality and inconvenience caused to workers, environment minister Gopal Rai said on Monday.
Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) dropped to 303 on a scale of 500, down from 499 nearly a week ago, when a thick haze hung over the city of more than 200 million people. The current AQI levels still indicate "very poor" conditions, according to government monitoring agencies.
"Air quality is slowly improving," Gopal Rai, the capital's Minister for Environment, Forest and Wildlife Development, told a news conference. "Labourers were facing difficulties, and that is why we have decided to resume construction activities."
He said the authorities would monitor construction sites to ensure that builders follow dust-control measures set out by the government.
"In view of the improvement in the air quality and inconvenience caused to workers, we have decided to lift the ban on construction and demolition activities. However, the government will continue to monitor the implementation of dust control measures by all agencies," Rai said
Apart from banning construction, the city government had also shut schools and offices, allowing people to work from home. The Delhi government on Sunday night extended the ban on the entry of trucks carrying non-essential items and work-from-home for its employees till November 26 to combat air pollution and minimize its health effects.
Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, often ranked the world's most polluted capital. Pollutants emanating from crop residue burning, transport, industries, and coal-fired plants outside the city tend to get trapped as temperatures fall during winter.
Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) dropped to 303 on a scale of 500, down from 499 nearly a week ago, when a thick haze hung over the city of more than 200 million people. The current AQI levels still indicate "very poor" conditions, according to government monitoring agencies.
"Air quality is slowly improving," Gopal Rai, the capital's Minister for Environment, Forest and Wildlife Development, told a news conference. "Labourers were facing difficulties, and that is why we have decided to resume construction activities."
He said the authorities would monitor construction sites to ensure that builders follow dust-control measures set out by the government.
"In view of the improvement in the air quality and inconvenience caused to workers, we have decided to lift the ban on construction and demolition activities. However, the government will continue to monitor the implementation of dust control measures by all agencies," Rai said
Apart from banning construction, the city government had also shut schools and offices, allowing people to work from home. The Delhi government on Sunday night extended the ban on the entry of trucks carrying non-essential items and work-from-home for its employees till November 26 to combat air pollution and minimize its health effects.
Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, often ranked the world's most polluted capital. Pollutants emanating from crop residue burning, transport, industries, and coal-fired plants outside the city tend to get trapped as temperatures fall during winter.
