Delhi Minister Gopal Rai orders immediate release of outstanding payments after smog tower at Connaught Place shut

New Delhi [India], January 8 : Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday wrote to the Principal Secretary of Environment, directing the latter to release the outstanding payments of the personnel working at the Smog Tower located in Delhi's Connaught Place.
The smog tower, inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2021, has stopped working after the personnel responsible for its operations 'locked it' due to non-payment of their salary for December 2023 and no written 'job guarantee' from the Delhi government.
Rai, in his letter, wrote, "Smog Tower at Connaught Place, Delhi, was installed by DPC on the directions of the' Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter titled MC. Mehta vs. Union of India in 2020 and started operations in August 2021. It was conceived as a scientific R&D project, among an array of solutions, to help address the seasonal pollution problem in Delhi. For smooth operations of the project, an MOU was entered between DPC, NBCC and TATA Projects."
"The operation of the Smog Tower was earlier arbitrarily stopped by the DPCC Chairman in August 2023 by stopping the release of O&M funds for the second year. The said action was taken suo moto by the DPCC Chairman in contravention of the decision of the Council of Ministers. GNCTD. The actions of the DPCC Chairman also made the Government NCTD liable to be charged for the contempt of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, as was pointed out in the note of the undersigned dated October 27, 2023, to the Hon'ble Chief Minister. Eventually, the Smog Tower was restarted after the intervention of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in November 2023," the letter read.
"Now, it has come to my notice through various newspapers that working on Smog Tower has been again stopped by the workers due to non-payment of salaries for the last two months. This is the negligence of duties by DPCC that was directed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court as recently as November 2023 to ensure the continued operation of the Smog Tower and also amounts to direct contempt of court. It is also very concerning that the shutting down of the smog tower is taking place at a time when air pollution is still in the 'very poor' category in the NCT of Delhi," it added.
The letter further read, "This is a very serious matter and immediate steps should be taken to release the pending payment and other related issues, if any, as per the MOU, within 24 hours so as to make Smog Tower operational without any further delay. Further, it must also be ensured in the future that all payments be made in a timely manner strictly as per the MOU to keep the Smog Tower running without any interruption."
"DPCC Chairman is further directed to submit a detailed report to the undersigned within 48 hours (i.e., at the latest by January 10, 2024), addressing the following important aspects related to this shocking dereliction of duties by DPCC:
a) Details of payments released by DPCC to project partners (i.e. (NBCC and TATA projects) after directions of Hon'ble Supreme Court in November 2023
b) Details of payments that are due to project partners as of December 31, 2023, and payments that have been released by DPCC against the same
c) Details of the first instance that the DPCC Chairman first became aware of the issue of non-payment of salaries to workers at CP Smog Tower and the actions taken by the DPCC Chairman since then (include copies of directions on files or letters issued in this regard)
d) DPCC Chairman to further carry out an investigation to identify the officers responsible for causing a delay in the release of payment for the project as per MOU terms and recommend disciplinary action be initiated against them," it added.
The smog tower was made operational in November last year after the Supreme Court directed the government to repair it and make it operational.