Gurugram officials, including engineer Surender Sheoran, to be prosecuted for dust‑control lapses

CAQM has ordered the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to prosecute Executive Engineer Surender Sheoran and other officials for not carrying out dust‑mitigation measures. The directive follows a letter dated Oct 30 in which MCG asked the Haryana Urban Local Bodies Department to take disciplinary action against Sheoran for mis‑managing mechanised road‑sweeping machines and failing to ensure effective dust control. Sheoran and the named officials will face a jurisdictional judicial magistrate under Section 14(2) of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021, which makes the offence non‑cognizable and triable only on a complaint from the Commission. The problem first surfaced in a December inspection of 125 road stretches under MCG’s control, where CAQM recorded high visible dust on 34 stretches and moderate dust on 58. A February probe, triggered by a complaint about dust and municipal solid waste in sectors 49, 50, 70, 73, 74 and 75, found piles of loose soil and construction‑demolition debris left beside roads. In October, CAQM examined 52 stretches and logged more than 250 violations, including high dust levels, with 174 of those breaches occurring on roads managed by MCG. After the MCG commissioner appeared before CAQM on Nov 3, the commission decided to hold Sheoran and his colleagues accountable. ## Context Dust mitigation is part of the air‑quality rules for the NCR region, and failure to control road dust can worsen pollution levels that affect public health.