NGT suggests allowance for labourers affected by construction ban in Delhi

New Delhi : The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday recommended to the Centre that a stipend or compensation be given to daily-wage labourers who have become unemployed as a result of the ban on construction activities to bring down the severe pollution levels in Delhi.

"Huge welfare funds are lying unused under Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act. Can there be some stipend when construction is stopped?" a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said.

The green panel said daily-wage workers who depend on construction sites to make a living are worst sufferers of the ban on construction activities as they have been rendered jobless.

"We have been informed that construction activity has been banned. Once construction is stopped, people involved in manual labour suffer the most. They become unemployed," the bench said.

The NGT was deliberating on the issue of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The tribunal said deterioration in air quality has not been caused in a single day but is the result of continuous negligence and apathy of statutory authorities in law enforcement.

It said every citizen has a fundamental right to a clean environment under the Constitution. During the hearing, Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, a senior official from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the member-secretary of Central Pollution Control Board and the chairman of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee were present in pursuance of an NGT order.

The chief secretary told the bench that authorities are taking strict action against those burning waste. Anybody who witnesses an incident of burning can report it directly through 'Sameer' app and action will be taken against the violators, he said.