New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday chaired a meeting with more than 50 major private construction agencies operating in the national capital and asked them to follow the government's 14-point guidelines to prevent dust pollution.

"We are focusing on 10 Focus Points to efficiently execute our plans. One of the most important points among these is the problem of dust pollution and it was observed many private agencies involved in construction contribute to the dust pollution problem.

"So, today we held a meeting with over 50 of private construction agencies, giving them 14-point guidelines that will be mandatory for them to follow while carrying out a construction work. They have also been given a time frame of 15 days to go through and discuss the guidelines," Rai said in a press briefing about the meeting.

Representatives of companies like L&T, GMR Group, Raheja Developers, Delhi Metro Pvt Ltd, NBCC among others participated in this meet.

The 14-point guidelines include setting up of dust/wind-breaking walls of appropriate height around the periphery of the construction site, installation of anti-smog gun(s) for over 20,000 square metres built-up area, anti-dust masks along with arrangements for medical help, investigation, and treatment for every construction worker working on the site.

"All private agencies should hold a review meeting at their construction sites to see which guidelines are being followed and which are not and comply accordingly," said the minister, adding that strict action will be taken against private agencies found not following the norms as per the Winter Action Plan - a plan of action due to be finanlised by September 30 by the Delhi government to curb the rising problem of pollution in the city.

A meeting was also held this week with the MCDs, the DDA, the CPWD, the PWD, the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, and DSIIDC, where they were directed to submit their action plan by September 21.