Construction ban, 50% staff in govt and private offices to work from home in Gurgaon from Nov 5 to 20 as pollution curbs kick in | Gurgaon News

Gurgaon: MCG on Monday ordered a 15-day suspension of dust-generating demolition and outdoor construction activities from Nov 5 to 20, while issuing an advisory asking govt and private offices in the city to allow no more than 50% of their employees to work from the office during the same period.The construction restrictions, issued in compliance with the directions of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), will cover private building projects as well as public infrastructure works, including highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, electricity transmission lines, pipelines and telecommunications infrastructure.The advisory requires state govt and private establishments to limit physical attendance to 50% of their workforce, with the remaining employees working from home. It will not apply to industrial establishments and essential services where the nature of operations makes remote working impractical. Offices have been asked to prepare attendance and work-from-home rosters in advance so that the arrangement is in place from Nov 5.Certain projects and essential services have been exempted from the construction restrictions, subject to prescribed conditions. These include railways, metro systems, airports, interstate bus terminals, hospitals, water supply and sanitation works, national security and defence-related activities, and projects of national importance.MCG has directed all departments to prioritise the measures and ensure coordinated implementation. “Officials have been asked to put the required arrangements in place before Nov 5, with no negligence in enforcing the construction restrictions, office attendance requirements and monitoring mechanism,” said MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya.The civic body has directed all departments and executing agencies to identify restricted activities and immediately direct contractors and field officials to stop the work. Regular inspections will be conducted to check compliance during the 15-day period.Departments and agencies have also been asked to appoint nodal officers to communicate the CAQM directions to subordinate offices, contractors and associated agencies and oversee their implementation. They must submit action-taken reports to the MCG additional commissioner (headquarters) before the restrictions take effect. The reports should detail the construction activities stopped and arrangements for monitoring compliance.