Over a period of time, the National Green Tribunal and other bodies are getting more sensitive towards pollution and how to stop it. Ideally, one really does not expect courts and tribunals to be in the business of stopping pollution, but when Government bodies are turning a blind eye and not doing anything, and health of people is getting affected, courts do get involved since people have rights; if these are rights are getting affected due to inaction by the Government, then they have a right to go to court which will rule in their favor (and sometimes with penalties to various Government bodies if they do not do their work).
Building sites contribute in their own way to pollution levels, and across different levels. They release dust into the atmosphere, they pull ground water and reduce the water table, and the construction activity also caused noise construction which can be harmful to the immediate surrounding. For these cases, there are many different guidelines that have been given: They cannot store their construction material on the roads and block them, during construction they have to cover the sides of the under construction building with sheets so as to reduce the amount of dust they release into the atmosphere, and they have to control their noise pollution.
However, the tribunals and courts can only issue these guidelines, it is for the municipal authorities to actually implement, and their lax implementation has meant that courts have sent out fact finding teams to find the true picture of affairs and not depend on reports by the authorities. But they do admonish the corporations and government bodies from time to time, and this is probably why the corporation went into action to try and show that it has taken action on these orders (link to article):
East Delhi Municipal Corporation fined 33 under-construction commercial and residential properties in Shahdara zone for causing air pollution, violating the 2010 guidelines of ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). In April, National Green Tribunal ordered to stop all construction activity not following MoEF rules.
NGT had directed all owners and builders to put tarpaulin sheets around the area of construction so that no dust emanates from the site. Trucks and vehicles carrying construction material and debris were ordered to be fully covered and builders prohibited from dumping construction material, particularly sand, on roads or inside colonies. Those violating these orders will be fined Rs 50,000. “This is the first time a civic body has challaned builders. They will have to appear before NGT if they fail to pay up,” said an East Corporation official.
