Delhi AAP accuses BJP of violating GRAP-IV anti-pollution rules at Kondli STP; BJP denies, calling claims politically motivated.

The Delhi administration, which is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was accused by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of not strictly enforcing GRAP-IV anti-pollution measures. They said that despite the prohibitions, a brick-making facility inside the government-run Kondli Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Delhi was producing dense smoke.Saurabh Bharadwaj, the Delhi state president of the AAP, posted a video on social media site X on Sunday, saying it showed smoke rising from the purported brick plant operating on the Kondli STP property. He claimed that the images demonstrated the government’s flimsy assertions of rigorous GRAP-IV enforcement.

Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar conducted an on-site check that resulted in the video. He said that the sludge management section of SSP Private Limited was using STP sludge waste to make bricks on Delhi Jal Board (DJB) property.

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“Thick smoke was clearly visible from the plant despite GRAP-IV being applied throughout Delhi,” Kumar asserted. He claimed to have ordered an immediate shutdown and chastised the on-site employees.

Residents in neighboring regions, including Mayur Vihar Phase-3, Kondli, Kalyanpuri, Khichripur, and Vasundhara Enclave, were having difficulty breathing due to smoke from DJB plants in these locations, he continued.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and National Green Tribunal (NGT) were urged by the AAP to take action against the corporation for GRAP-IV violations, including issuing notifications, imposing steep fines, and blacklisting it.

The Delhi BJP responded to the accusations by calling them false and politically motivated. The facility in question is a necessary and contemporary sludge treatment unit that is allowed to function even during periods of high pollution, according to Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva.

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He claimed that while Saurabh Bharadwaj was a minister, he personally inaugurated the Kondli STP in 2023 and designated it as a vital infrastructure, enabling it to operate during the winter pollution periods in 2023 and 2024.

“Steam is the only emission from modern STPs and sludge units; it may look like smoke, but it’s not,” Sachdeva stated. He went on to say that such plants are allowed under GRAP-IV and accused AAP leaders like Kuldeep Kumar of fabricating information in order to attack the BJP-led government.