No state wants to have the ignominy of being home to the most polluted urban centre in the country but that was exactly what happened to Meghalaya recently when Byrnihat was adjudged so by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, however, came up with an explanation to save Meghalaya’s blushes, telling the Assembly today that pollution from Assam is wafting over the border and being counted in the figures of Byrnihat, which is host to several different industrial units.
Sangma said this in response to a call attention motion moved by Jirang MLA Sosthenes Sohtun. The CM stated that the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) regularly conducts air quality tests and Byrnihat’s results show anything between satisfactory to moderate air quality.
Maintaining that there has never been a period where the air quality index (AQI) has dipped to poor or severe, as per the reports, he said, “We have done an independent study and an independent report and the analysis of the air quality and our data and information is showing that it is in the moderate level and it has never dipped to poor or severe.”
However, as Byrnihat is near the Assam border and as there are industrial units on both sides, there are concerns that those from Assam are releasing pollution that is impacting the overall assessment made by national agencies with regards to Byrnihat.
“We have set up equipment that will provide us online data, live data of the different air qualities daily if required. So, even if we don’t set up the office of the pollution board or a branch of the pollution board there, technology is available today which we have already done for air and the next step will be for water also,” the CM said.
Sohtun had requested that an office of the MSPCB be set up in Byrnihat to keep a constant eye on pollution levels there. The MLA feared that pollution in Byrnihat could spread over other parts of Ri-Bhoi and affect the entire district’s population.
The legislator’s other suggestions were for a proper dumping ground in Byrnihat to reduce the throwing of waste on roadsides and rivers and for a joint action plan between the MSPCB and its counterparts in Assam.
The CM said that the issue of a dumping ground, while not directly connected with air pollution, has been noted. He also said that the MSPCB is already in touch with the Assam pollution board at a formal level.
