DM on the look out for advanced pollution control technologies

"Based on the directives of the Director General of Dubai Municipality, we have during the past year evaluated and studied a number of advanced pollution control technologies prevalent in different developed countries," said Eng. Redha Hassan Salman, Head of the Environment Protection and Safety Section.

Salman said these include state-of-the-art technology to check on-road vehicle emission and find out the vehicles that cross the specified emission limits irrespective of the different fuels used by the vehicles.

"We have also looked into other available alternatives, which include paint or its additives used in tunnels and covered and semi-covered parking lots in some countries to help reduce pollutants emitted from the exhaust pipes through chemical reaction and convert them to materials less harmful to the environment," he said.

Salman said the section has also tried to evaluate effective alternative chemical materials to solidify the soil and the soft flying materials, especially those come through the trucks and heavy equipments on the unpaved roads.

"We are also on the look out for alternative materials that will help reduce the use of water for washing cement mixers in addition to evaluating alternative materials and latest technology for disinfecting and ensuring the purity of water in the swimming pools and beautification pools," he said.

Salman said many of these materials, technologies and systems are promising; however in actual sense, trying them here depends on prevalent local conditions, which are being looked into right now.

Meanwhile, the tests on air quality in Dubai conducted in the month of November last had shown that the emirate's air quality is good in general and is at the desired level.

The section has also continued to monitor the quality of water in the creek and the sea and cleaned it from polluting substances. Also, checks are being undertaken at ships that cruise through the creek and that anchored at the ports as well as at the natural sanctuaries.

Routine patrolling is carried out using boats of the Marine Environment Safety Unit to prevent any negative practices that harm the marine environment or violation of the maritime environment rules in Dubai. During the month of November 2006, these patrols have imposed fines on 39 violators.

The Environment Control Unit in the Section conducted some 1,005 inspections in different industrial establishments of Dubai in November, which were carried out in a bid to protect Dubai's environment from industrial pollution.
The inspections came as part of a programme to monitor the compliance of industrial establishments with the prevalent environment rules and regulations.

Of the total number of inspections, 111 were follow-up visits of earlier inspections. Besides, 26 inspections were carried out on the basis of complaints received from the public, 10 inspections for evaluating the environmental requirements in the new industrial establishments that applied for licenses, and 857 routine inspections. There were also two inspections to attend emergency cases and 49 fines were issued against violations.

The Safety Unit of the section carried out 346 inspection visits to construction sites, swimming pools, hotels, toyshops, amusement shops, and accident sites. During these visits, 33 construction sites were inspected to check whether safety was provided at the sites and employees were equipped with the necessary safety devices.

Besides, 77 toyshops were checked for the compliance of toys with the prevailing safety norms and to ensure that no banned toys were offered for sale. Likewise, seven amusement centres were also inspected.

Other safety inspection visits included 85 visits to swimming pools, nine visits to follow up an accident that occurred due to the absence of the necessary safety precautions and six visits on the basis of complaints from the public. During these visits 48 fines were issued against violators.

The section, meanwhile, renewed 25 commercial fishing licenses and changed six licenses and issued six new licenses for leisure boats in addition to issuing permits for fishing at the beach. A total of 16 fines were issued during this period.