Mayor slams MC Commissioner

Rajinder S Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, June 16

Panchkula Mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia has criticised the Panchkula MC Commissioner’s move to sprinkle water through fire engines in the city to settle down the dust in the past two days.

The Mayor said it was just eyewash. Moreover, the MC could have easily provided water to areas where there was water crisis, rather than sprinkling it in the air. “How three fire engines can cover the entire city,” questions Mayor.

To control the dust pollution, the MC had pressed three fire engines for two days to settle down the dust. In this exercise, the MC used around 55,000 litres of water.

Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Rajesh Jogpal said it was not his personal orders and he was only following the Haryana Government’s directions. Moreover, this method of sprinkling water was tried and tested method in the world to deal with dust pollution, he said.

“It could be Mayor’s personal opinion,” the Commissioner said. One fire engine was covering the city. The other two were covering the Mansa Devi area and the trans-Ghaggar sectors.

In the past two days, the air quality in Panchkula was hazardous. While it was around 500 microgram per cubic metre on Thursday, it was 488 microgram per cubic metre on Friday. PM2.5 was the primary air pollutant in Panchkula, according to officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB).

HSPCB officials said the dust in Panchkula was caused because of strong and dusty winds blowing from Delhi and Rajasthan.