Chief Secretary directs Regional Officers of Pollution Control Board to compile monthly pollution and environmental reports for their respective areas

The working group of key stakeholder departments to address at least 50 pollution hotspots throughout the golden jubilee year- Dr TVSN Prasad

Chandigarh September 19: Haryana Chief Secretary, Dr TVSN Prasad directed the Regional Officers of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to compile monthly pollution and environmental reports for their respective areas. These reports are to be submitted to the State Government to facilitate effective measures against pollution.

While presiding over the meeting of Regional Officers of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of the Board here today, Dr TVSN Prasad also directed the formation of a working group comprising key stakeholder departments—including Health, Transport, Industries, Town and Country Planning, Urban Local Bodies, Development and Panchayats, and Public Health Engineering. The group is tasked with addressing at least 50 pollution hotspots throughout the golden jubilee year. He also emphasized the need of interdepartmental coordination to enhance pollution control efforts and ensure a cleaner environment for the people of Haryana.

Congratulating the Haryana State Pollution Control Board on its 50th anniversary, Chief Secretary Dr TVSN Prasad emphasized the growing importance of addressing environmental pollution in light of increasing economic activities. He highlighted the need for a proactive approach to ensure a sustainable future while fostering economic growth.

The Chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Sh P. Raghavendra Rao, provided a comprehensive overview of the Board's journey since its inception in 1974. He said that while the Board was originally established to tackle water pollution, its activities have significantly expanded over the years to address a broader range of environmental challenges.

Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Sh Sudhir Rajpal, emphasized the need to delegate the responsibility of biomedical waste collection and disposal to multiple agencies to enhance system effectiveness. He also proposed reducing the operational coverage of these agencies from the current 75 kilometers to improve service efficiency.

It was informed in the meeting that the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has taken a series of measures to address air pollution in preparation for the upcoming winter season. The board has implemented several initiatives aimed at improving air quality across the state, particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Mandatory Installation of Emission Monitoring Devices

HSPCB has mandated that all Red Category Air Emitting industries in NCR Districts install Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Devices (OCEMD). Approximately 400 such units have been established.

Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring

To bolster air quality monitoring, Haryana has installed 29 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) across the state, with 21 located in NCR Districts. Additionally, 46 Manual Stations are operational to ensure comprehensive air quality assessment.

24/7 Pollution Control and Dust Management

A control room has been set up at the Ballabgarh Regional Office to handle air pollution-related complaints around the clock during the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) period. HSPCB is also closely monitoring emission norms through regular inspections and maintaining strict vigilance against the use of unapproved fuels.

Implementation of Dust Control Measures

In response to directives from the Commission for Air Quality Management, HSPCB has established "Dust Control and Management Cells" with the Public Works (B&R) department and Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board. Nineteen such cells have been created across various agencies, and a Web Portal for Dust Pollution Control Self Assessment has registered 1,074 construction sites.

City Action Plans and Fuel Regulations

HSPCB is actively monitoring the implementation of City Action Plans for Faridabad and other non-NCAP cities within NCR. The board has also updated the list of approved fuels for NCR to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. Source apportionment and emission inventory studies have been completed for Gurugram, Panipat, and Sonipat, with plans to extend these studies to other major cities in Haryana.

==============================================

Election Commission of India Reviews Poll Preparedness for Haryana Legislative Assembly Elections 2024

Chandigarh, September 19 – To review the action taken on the directions of the commission issued to the authorities involved in the election process during its visit to the state of Haryana on August 12-13, 2024, a team of Senior officers from the Election Commission of India held a meeting today with Divisional Commissioners, IG Police range, Deputy Commissioners cum DEOs, Police Commissioners and SPs, General Observors, Police Observors from 11 districts regarding preparedness of ongoing General Election to Haryana Vidhan Sabha – 2024. The team comprised of Deputy Election Commissioner, Shri Hirdesh Kumar, Director Expenditure, Shri Pankaj Srivastava, Deputy Election Commissioner, Shri Sanjeev Kumar and Principal Secretary, Shri S.B. Joshi. The meeting was held in the presence of Haryana Chief Electoral Officer, Shri Pankaj Agarwal.

The Commission led by Sh. Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner had then taken the review of the administrative, logistics, law and order, and election-related arrangements with the Chief Electoral Officer and State Police Nodal Officer. The commission had directed to ensure conduct of free and fair elections by maintaining good law and order situation. It had stressed to maintain good health of the electoral roll with the removal of dead and shifted voters. Further, it directed to provide minimum assured facility at the polling booths along with conducive environment to encourage voters turnout. DEOs were directed to be equally accessible to all the political parties and to resolve promptly the grievances related to various election related activities. ,

In today’s meeting, Shri Hirdesh Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner reviewed the marking of electoral rolls, time plan for preparing ASD (Absentee, shifted, Duplicate or Dead) lists, distribution of voter lists, Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) distribution and addressing any major complaint related to electoral rolls. He stated that the printing of pending EPIC cards should be persued with the printer and the EPIC cards should be distributed by 30th Sep. The BLOs can be engaged for ensuring the compliance of this task. The marked lists should be prepared as per the instructions. Also the copies of the electoral rolls handed over to the candidates should match with the marked electoral rolls.

The team emphasized the importance of ensuring that all polling stations are fully equipped with the necessary facilities. He instructed District Commissioners-cum-DEOs and SPs to personally inspect polling stations to verify the availability of essential resources. The Commission emphasised that the Voter Facilitation Booths should be set up by the BLOs at each polling stations. Proper sitting arrangements have to be made to facilitate the voters standing in queues.

The team cited the need for webcasting from all polling stations. For ensuring better monitoring, cameras of high resolution should be used and they should be positioned in a way that these cover the polling stations properly for effective surveillance. At the same time the secrecy of voting should not be compromised. The DEOs briefed the Election Commission regarding the setup of special model polling booths. These include ‘pink booths’ staffed entirely by women employees, youth employees managed booths, and booths overseen by persons with disabilities (PWD) employees.

The police authorities briefed about the security arrangements for ensuring a good law and order situation. The team expressed its satisfaction over the deployment of the central forces and other security arrangements. However, it stressed immediate action for better surveillance of the border areas in coordination with police of the neighbouring states.

In another meeting with the enforcement agencies of income tax department, SGST, CGST, State Police, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Directorate of Enforcement, Narcotics Control Bureau, Civil Aviation, Customs and State Transport, the team noticed that the seizures have been less compared to the recent Loksabha Elections. It emphasised to rework the strategy, monitor the working of different Flying Squad Surveillance Teams and Static Surveillance Teams. The police was asked to ensure immediate placement of Mirror Check Posts as per the Police Manual of the commission. The police authorities assured to take effective steps to enhance the surveillance and raise the seizures. The commission at the same time cautioned not to cause unnecessary public inconvenience while performing these duties. For monitoring the cash flow the daily bank reports has to be scrutinised at the DEO level by placing some experienced persons on the task. The authorities of other enforcement agencies like excise and taxation department, RPF, GRP, income tax department etc. were also encouraged and directed for better coordinated efforts to control and curb the flow of cash, drugs, and illicit liquor.

The team also reviewed the preparations related to the counting centres, postal ballot papers, training of the polling staff. The DEOs briefed on the above issues. The Chief Electoral Officer, Shri Pankaj Agarwal, informed that a centralized postal ballot collection centre will be established in Karnal. For home voting, provisions will be made for PwD voters and voters over the age of 85 by the concerned RO in the presence of polling agent and the videography of the process will also be carried. He stated that training of the election officials should be ensured, other requirement such as transportation facility of PwD voters, 85 age plus voters should be ensured by the department wherever required.

The team further reiterated that maximum efforts should be made at the local level and the state level to enhance the voters turnout in these elections. He cited the recent good voter turnout in sensitive districts of J&K, and said that the state should draw inspiration from that. At the end of the meeting he re-emphasised that all efforts should be made to ensure free and fair poll.

The districts covered in the meeting included Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad, Sirsa, and Hisar.

======================================

समीक्षा बैठक

CHANDIGARH, 19.09.24-भारत निर्वाचन आयोग के उप चुनाव आयुक्त श्री हृदेश कुमार चंडीगढ़ में हरियाणा विधानसभा चुनाव - 2024 को लेकर मंडलाआयुक्तो, आई.जी.पी, ऑब्जर्वर, उपायुक्त कम जिला निर्वाचन अधिकारियो व पुलिस अधीक्षको के साथ समीक्षा बैठक करते हुए। (19.9.2024)