HSPCB Gives Sites Four Days to Install Dust Webcams

GURUGRAM: The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has given construction sites in the city four days to install web cameras to monitor dust mitigation, failing which they could face sealing, officials said.

Following directions from the Commission for Air Quality Management, HSPCB has issued show-cause notices to representatives of several construction sites measuring above 500 square metres. Officials said all eligible sites must register on the HSPCB dust portal and keep registration details available at the project site.

"Every registered construction project should submit a fortnightly self-audit sheet through the dust portal, duly certifying the status of implementation of prescribed dust mitigation measures at the project site. The self-audit shall be submitted regularly within the prescribed timeline," said Akansha Tanwar, regional officer of HSPCB (North), Gurugram.

Officials said PM2.5 and PM10 sensors or other monitoring equipment must be installed and operated at project sites. Tanwar said another frequent violation is the absence of dust barriers, tarpaulin, green net or scaffolding sheets around the full periphery of a site. Construction sites must have water sprinklers. Trucks carrying sand or debris must be covered. Grinding and cutting of materials must not be done in the open and should be enclosed with dust controls. Vehicles carrying construction material, debris or C&D waste must have wheels washed before leaving the site so that dust is not deposited on public roads.

According to the latest figures on the dust portal cited by officials, 781 registered sites in Gurugram (north) had uploaded 6,196 self-audit reports, while 622 sites in Gurugram (south) had submitted 5,300 reports. Earlier in September, HSPCB had summoned around 170 project proponents and site representatives to review compliance.

The four-day webcam deadline hardens enforcement ahead of the season when particulate levels typically rise across the National Capital Region. Sites that skip cameras, sensors or self-audits now face sealing risk under the same dust-portal regime that already records thousands of fortnightly submissions from north and south Gurugram. The notices to sites above 500 square metres put the largest active projects first in line for camera checks. Officials tied the webcam rule to ongoing CAQM dust-mitigation directions already circulating among project proponents. Registration on the dust portal, fortnightly self-audits, periphery barriers and wheel-washing form a single compliance chain that site managers must keep visible for inspectors.

Field teams will treat missing cameras, missing sensors and missing self-audit uploads as grounds for sealing action under the same notices already sent to large sites.