Env marshals to check open burning, dust violations in Delhi

The Delhi government has deployed 14 environment marshals in seven municipal wards of the city to flag instances of open burning of waste, violation of construction norms and spillage of garbage at roadside dumps.
The personnel, who will be paid Rs 5,000 per month, have been deployed in three wards of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, two wards of the south corporation and two wards of the north corporation.
"They have been instructed to act as eyes and ears of the environment department and report such violations," an official statement said.
In a recent meeting of the Environment Pollution Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), the Supreme Court- mandated body directed the government to send its staff instead of outsourcing such work.

The government representative in the meeting said the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is severely understaffed, which has prompted it to delegate the work to third party contractors.
Environment Minister Imran Hussain said the government plans to increase the number of marshalls to 100 who will be deployed in 50 wards spread across the three civic bodies.
The wards covered so far are Anand Vihar, I P Extension, Jhilmil, Daryaganj, Okhla, Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar- Samaypur Badli and Shahbad Daulatpur-PoothKhurd, the statement said.