PCBA to evaluate pollution measures across 39 industries in Byrnihat

Guwahati,Mar 14: Rattled by the IQAir report that ranked Byrnihat as the world's most polluted city in the world, the Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) on Thursday decided to evaluate pollution control measures in all the 39 industries in the area and conduct a 'source apportionment study' to identify the prominent pollution sources.

The PCBA went into a huddle a day after the Swiss air quality technology company report named the 13 Indian cities as among the 20 most polluted cities in the world, with Byrnihat topping the list.

Sources said a Byrnihat-specific action plan' was prepared more than a year back, but no headway was made thereafter.

"There are 39 industries in the area. Within a week, an evaluation will be done in each of them to assess if they have adhered to the pollution mitigation measures," an official source said.

Besides the industries, another dominant source of pollution is said to be road dust. There is heavy movement of trucks in the place due to the presence of go-downs.

"We are also planning to go for an immediate source apportionment study to identify the actual pollution sources. It will be either done through IIT or a professional agency. Once the study is complete, we will have to revisit and modify the action plan," the source said.

Sources said the problem is more in the Assam part of Byrnihat, which is "critically polluted." The Meghalaya side falls in the "non-attainment" category, but that could be due to its elevation.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday claimed that the air quality on the Meghalaya side of Byrnihat was better, and industries on the Assam side were contributing to the critical pollution in the area.

The CPCB bulletin did not state the AQI of Byrnihat in the last two days, but on March 11 it was 341, which falls in the 'very poor quality' category.

By

Rituraj Borthakur