Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma blames Assam's industries for Byrnihat's poor air quality
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday mentioned that poor air quality in Byrnihat “may be attributed to industrial and other activities along the Assam side.”
Recently, the World Air Quality Report 2024 released by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir has named Byrnihat as the world’s most polluted town.
In a suo moto statement in the Assembly, Sangma said Byrnihat’s (Meghalaya) air quality has been found “satisfactory” by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB).
He said, “out that as per data generated from the four manual ambient air quality monitoring stations of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) located at Byrnihat town, the annual average PM2.5 concentration for 2024 is 50.1 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m3). Further, as per MSPCB’s data from January to March (first week),2025, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Byrnihat was observed to be ‘Satisfactory.”
He added, “The MSPCB conducted surprise inspections at industrial units in EPIP and 13th Mile on 24th, 27th, and 31st January 2025, and 5th February 2025.
The inspections revealed violations of pollution norms including heavy emissions from chimneys due to non-operation of pollution control devices, ineffective pollution control devices and non-transmission of online emission data. As a result, the MSPCB issued closure notices to seven industrial units and imposed environmental compensation on two industrial units.
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