Construction ban every year citing fall in air quality delays real estate projects by at least 3-4 months

Representative image.

Authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) have been asked to strictly implement measures under Stage 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) after air quality in Delhi dropped to the 'poor' level. Periodic construction bans by authorities due to the rising pollution levels almost every year has become a major deterrent for the real estate sector in Delhi-NCR, and which is impacting project deliveries. On an average, a one-month ban on all construction activity delays a project by at least three-four months, say real estate experts.

Environmentalists say that the need of the hour is a policy that curbs pollution throughout the year, not a reactive approach in the month of October every year.

It’s usually in winters that the air quality in Delhi-NCR reaches the worst levels as heavy smog engulfs the entire region. As per GRAP guidelines, if pollution breach certain levels (Stage III when it is severe) authorities will have to enforce a ban on construction and demolition activities in NCR, except on essential projects (like railways, metros, airports, ISBTs, national security/defence-related projects of national importance) and non-polluting activities such as plumbing, carpentry, interior decoration, and electrical works. The decision taken on October 5 is with regard to the Stage 1 level and not Stage III.

The Centre's sub-committee on GRAP, in a meeting, has noted that there has been a "sudden dip" in air quality parameters in the region in the last 24 hours, which pushed Delhi's air quality index (AQI) to the "poor" category. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor'.

Under Stage-I, the Centre's Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has recommended stopping construction and demolition (C&D) activities at sites having plot size equal to or more than 500 square metres that are not registered on the "web portal" of the respective states for remote monitoring of air pollution levels. Project proponents are required to ensure proper implementation of guidelines for dust mitigation, management of C&D waste and use of anti-smog guns at construction sites.

Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced a month-long anti-dust campaign to check compliance of pollution norms at construction sites on October 6 and said that 586 teams have been formed for its implementation.

"The anti-dust campaign has begun today in Delhi. As many as 586 teams of 12 government departments and agencies have been formed to check dust pollution at construction sites across the city. This campaign will continue for a month till November 6," Rai said. These teams will conduct surprise inspections at construction sites to check whether they are complying with the pollution norms. These teams will conduct surprise inspections at construction sites to check whether they are complying with the pollution norms.

Real estate developers question whether a generic construction ban is justified and if it helps in improving AQI.

“It impacts construction activity severely. The most important question here is whether AQI improves after construction on sites come to a grinding halt. It leads to job losses, construction workers go back to their villages, impacts project timelines, and disturbs the interest cycle on loans taken from financial institutions. The real estate sector has to bear the brunt every year. The agency should take a scientific approach,” says Amit Modi, president, CREDAI, Western UP.

Real estate developers point out that there are 30 stages of construction. “It should be specified which stage of construction falls under the ban. Excavation may be polluting but interior and painting jobs are not. A complete ban does not make sense,” they say.

On September 27, Credai NCR had written a letter to Delhi RERA and UPRERA highlighting areas of concern that needed to be addressed under GRAP. It noted that in the event of the situation turning ‘severe’ under Stage III, authorities would have to enforce a ban on construction and demolition activities in NCR, except in case of essential projects such as railways, metros, airports, ISBTs, national security or defence-related projects of national importance, and non-polluting activities such as plumbing, carpentry, interiors and electrical works. Brick kilns, hot mix plants and stone crushers not operating on clean fuels, and mining and associated activities in NCR will also be banned under Stage III.

In its letters to RERA authorities, Credai had noted that under GRAP, construction activities come to a grinding halt, which leads to losses across the industry. Even non-polluting sites are forced to stop work, forcing workers to leave town fearing an extended ban.

It suggested that since RERA-registered projects are constructed in the interest of the general public/homebuyers, RERA authorities should approach the CAQM to consider RERA-registered projects as public interest projects.

Public money is involved in these RERA-registered projects. While these are small in comparison to metro and railways projects, it is mandatory to complete them within timelines, as heavy penalties are levied in case of delay in completion, Credai NCR had said in the letter.

The real estate regulatory authority of Delhi has written to the chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) urging the authorities to not ban construction of RERA-registered projects due to pollution as it will adversely impact the delivery to homebuyers. There was no response from UPRERA.

Abhay Upadhyay, president, The Forum for People’s Collective Efforts, a pan-India homebuyers’ body, and member, Central Advisory Council, RERA, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, is of the view that only residential projects should be considered as these involve the life savings of homebuyers and delays impact them considerably. Developers, on their part, should take into account this period while deciding on the timelines and applying to RERA. The most important issue here is that even when there are no restrictions in place, projects get delayed, some for decades, leaving homebuyers in the lurch.

“Such periodic construction bans by the NGT, government or the apex court due to rising pollution levels almost every year is certainly a major deterrent for the real estate sector in Delhi-NCR which inevitably impacts project deliveries. On an average, a one-month ban on all construction activity delays a project by at least three-four months,” said Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman, ANAROCK Group.

As per ANAROCK Research, the top areas in Delhi-NCR having maximum under-construction units currently include Greater Noida West, Yamuna Expressway, New Gurgaon, Noida Expressway, Dwarka Expressway, Central Noida, L-Zone, Sector 150 (Noida), Greater Faridabad and Raj Nagar Ext. These areas together have more than four lakh units under various stages of construction.

“Imposing ban on construction sites will delay the project deliverables and cause cost escalation risk to developers. With home buying sentiment running high, project timelines are crucial for project viability and customer service. Industry stakeholders should together chalk out planned sustainable development with carbon and waste emissions in control to mitigate climate crisis,” said Niranjan Hiranandani, Vice Chairman, Naredco.

Other experts are of the view that a temporary ban on construction is not likely to have the same impact as increase in interest rates.

“Construction activity will definitely slow down, following imposition of these guidelines. But this will have only a temporary impact. From a macro perspective for the housing sector, it is the increase in interest rate that will impact affordability much more than the halt in construction activity. Having said that, this will only be a blip. Construction delays will happen but developers will have to work towards creating avenues within the guidelines,” said Siva Krishnan, Head - Residential Services, JLL.

Environmentalists call for year-long efforts to curb pollution, not reactive measures in October

The need of the hour is to have measures in place throughout the year. This should not be an October syndrome, say environmentalists.

“Why do we have to wait for GRAP to kick in? The real action has to be all year round. Don’t think we can call it ‘proactive’ even now. The fact that we talk air pollution only in October is ‘reactive’. Until we work on an apt policy to curb pollution throughout the year, nothing will work. Non-stop construction throughout the year with no or negligible monitoring and then expecting to put a halt suddenly and expecting the air to clear up is not going to work,” said environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari.

Akash Vashisht, an environmental lawyer, agrees. “Substantive and effective measures should be put in place throughout the year, not merely for three months,” he said, adding the issue of vehicular emissions should also be considered seriously.