Air pollution: SC refuses urgent hearing on plea to revisit order for ban on construction

In its plea, the forum claimed construction activities by it contributed to meagre 6.7-7.9% of the entire pollution in the region

The Supreme Court on Monday refused urgent hearing on a plea by Developers and Builders Forum to revisit its November 24 order reimposing ban on construction activities here due to worsening air pollution in the national capital.

The court, however, said the application would be taken up on Friday along with the main PIL filed by minor Aditya Dubey.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the forum, sought urgent hearing on Monday itself, saying the blanket ban imposed by the court should be lifted as Air Quality Index has improved and thousand of crores of the industry was lost due to such a measure.

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The court initially asked the applicant-body to approach the government. However, Singh asserted that the ban was imposed by the court.

The bench then said the matter would be taken up on Friday.

In its plea, the forum claimed construction activities by it contributed to meagre 6.7-7.9 per cent of the entire pollution in the region.

It also said blanket ban has directly affected the livelihoods of large number of construction workers, supervisory personnel and other managerial staff. It said if the Central Vista construction, and other projects can continue, the forum can comply with the same norms.

The forum further said even within the construction activities, admittedly the major contributors to pollution are the big commercial projects like multi-storey buildings, Central Vista project, Metro construction, construction of fly-overs and underpasses, etc. The share of residential construction is a miniscule percentage, it added.

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