Parwanoo, Kala Amb get top ranks under clean air drive

Ambika Sharma

Solan, September 7

The industrial towns of Parwanoo and Kala Amb have made it to the top two ranks nationally under the National Clean Air Programme among category 3 states having less than 3 lakh population.

Initiatives by SPCB, MC helped reduce dust

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The initiatives taken by the SPCB and MC like curbing open dumping of garbage by identifying hotspots, holding plantation drives and concreting the roads by laying paver blocks and interlock tiles helped in reducing dust on the roads.

Parwanoo received the top rank by scoring 193.6 points out of 200 while Kala Amb missed the first position by merely .6 points and it scored 193 points.

As many as 131 cities submitted their self-assessment reports as per the guidelines of Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan for the financial year 2023-24.

The award was bestowed upon the state at Bhopal today which was received by Anil Joshi, Member Secretary, State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).

Pradeep Moudgil, Regional Officer, SPCB, Parwanoo, informed that key initiates taken by the SPCB and the municipal council like curbing open dumping of garbage by identifying hot spots, plantation drives and concreting the roads by laying paver blocks and interlock tiles by the civic body helped to reduce dust on the roads.

A source operation-based study was undertaken at Parwanoo spread across 8.50 sq km by IIT Kanpur which identified dust emanating from the road as a key source of air pollution.

Ambient air quality monitoring stations were set up at two places to keep vigil over the air pollution and this helped to identify the source of pollution. The air pollution was reduced by 29 per cent. Parwanoo had remained at the fifth position last year in these rankings.

Though sizable improvement in the air quality has been registered at Kala Amb this industrial cluster was still short of achieving the ideal air quality parameters laid down in the National Ambient Air Quality Norms, informed a board official.

“Emission level has been sizable reduced at Kala Amb which was a positive outcome of slew of efforts taken by the board,” added the official.