Conrad calls for joint action to deal with Byrnihat pollution

Shillong, March 13: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has called for a joint action by both Assam and Meghalaya to reduce pollution in  Byrnihat border town.

Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly on Thursday, the chief minister said he had already written to Assam authorities to address the issue jointly.

Byrnihat attracted global attention as the worst polluted town.

“Action has been initiated on the Meghalaya side and 7 polluting factories were closed down”, the chief minister said.

According to Conrad, pollution may be more on Assam side hence joint efforts are the need of the hour.

Full statement below 

SUO MOTO STATEMENT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER IN CHARGE FOREST AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT AS PER THE RULE 55 OF RULES OF PROCEDURE AND CONDUCT OF BUSINESS IN MEGHALAYA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ON MEDIA REPORTS THAT “BYRNIHAT IS THE WORLD’S MOST
POLLUTED CITY/ TOWN
* 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 microgram 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 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 Byrnihatwas observed to be ‘Satisfactory.’
* It may be mentioned that 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.
* Consequent to closure of the 7(seven) industrial units in Byrnihat, Meghalaya, from 29th January to 11th March, 2025, 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 maybe attributed to industrial and other activities along the Assam side.
The Burnihat 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, as 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.
*The MSPCB has engaged the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Kolkata, for conducting 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 study is completed and the final report is under preparation.