Govt directs MSPCB to submit audit report on industrial units with in 7 Days

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 18, 2025

The Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board has been directed to organize a comprehensive audit and inspection of all the industrial units located in Byrnihat Town and to submit an action-taken report within 7 days.

The order issued by Commissioner & Secretary in charge of Forest & Environment Pravin Bakshi on Tuesday following the adverse media reports relating to the ‘very poor’ status of pollution levels of PM 2.5, PM 10, SO₂, and NOₓ beyond the permissible limits prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Tabling a suo motu statement in the just concluded Assembly in reaction to reports that “Byrnihat is the world’s most polluted city/town”, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that with respect to the data as reported in the media, relating to IQAir’s World Air Quality Report 2024, stating Byrnihat as having recorded an average PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³), it may, however, be pointed out that as per data generated from the 4 (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 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³).

“Further, that 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.

Referring to the surprise inspections conducted by the MSPCB at industrial units in EPIP and 13th Mile on January 24, 27, and 31 and February 5 this year, Sangma said 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. Consequent to closure of the 7 (seven) industrial units in Byrnihat, Meghalaya, from 29th January to 11th March, 2025,” he said.

“It may be pointed out that the AQI generated from the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) installed in the Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFOS), Burnihat, Assam, still reflected the AQI as “Poor”/“Very Poor” during most of the days. This indicates that the major sources of air pollution may be attributed to industrial and other activities along the Assam side,” the CM claimed while adding that the Byrnihat Industrial Area in Assam, that runs along Byrnihat Town of Meghalaya, has been designated as a Critically Polluted Area (CPA) by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi.

“In fact, it is to be pointed out that there are 20 (twenty) Red Category industries in Burnihat, Assam, compared to 5 (five) in the Meghalaya side. As per direction of the Hon’ble NGT and CPCB, the Assam PCB has prepared an Action Plan and adequate measures are being taken to restore and improve the environmental quality of Byrnihat Area of Assam,” he stated.

Further, the MSPCB has engaged the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Kolkata, for conducting an Emission Inventory & Source Apportionment study of Byrnihat.

“”Emission Inventory is an important tool for identifying the source of pollutants and quantitatively expressing their pollution load in a defined area at a particular time, while Source Apportionment is primarily based on measurements and tracking down the sources through receptor modeling,” the CM said while informing that the study is completed and the final report is under preparation.