400 hotels put on notice for pollution.
New Delhi: Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has issued showcause notices to over 400 guesthouses and hotels in Paharganj demanding a reply within 15 days as to why consent to operate was not taken under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act , 1981.
Mahasangh president Arun Gupta claimed that since the acts only apply to industrial units, the showcause notices should not have been issued.
"We will meet the minister on Saturday.
Delhi Police’s licensing department never asked us to get permission from DPCC in the past.
Our activities are purely residential and non-polluting in nature," he said.
Gupta added that this move will further burden small guesthouses that are already paying a number of charges.
The notice states that any establishment that has failed to take consent to operate under the air and water pollution acts will have to close their unit with immediate effect.
"This is extremely damaging for us.
There are mostly small guesthouses in the area that do not even have a kitchen.