Unintended consequence

The poor face the brunt of pollution control

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As civic authorities in the Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) imposed the highest level of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP 4) when air quality slipped into the "severe" category, thousands of construction workers became the victims of pollution twice over.

Among other things, GRAP 4 proscribes construction activities. Though the decision ostensibly reflects concern for public health, its ad hoc imposition without notice not only stalls construction projects and pushes up costs but leaves thousands of workers, the bulk of them migrants and daily-wage workers, without a livelihood for an indefinite period.

The unintended consequences of this well-intentioned but poorly thought through veto was amply demonstrated last week when hundreds of construction workers protested outside the Delhi lieutenant governor's office, demanding compensation for their enforced idleness as a result of GRAP 4.