Plan in place to check air pollution in Baddi, Nalagarh

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, September 11

The half-baked approach of officials of the State Pollution Control Board to mitigate air pollution in the industrial towns of Baddi and Nalagarh has failed to yield the desired result.

The two towns figure on the list of non-attainment cities, where the ambient air quality norms exceeded the laid-down standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). They house nearly 89 per cent of the state’s industries.

Various short, mid and long-term measures have been devised by the board officials to check air pollution, which includes coordinating with departments like the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority, local Municipal Committees, PWD and Himachal Housing and Urban Development Authority.

Short-term measures like imposing a ban on biomass and garbage burning in the area, ensuring proper management of solid waste as per the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules-2016 have also been suggested in an action plan chalked out to achieve the ambient air quality level.

Vehicular emissions were found to be a big contributory factor to the deteriorating air quality in the area, which also houses 10,000 trucks that transport industrial goods.

With a view to reducing emissions from vehicles, the RTO is also supposed to introduce a slew of measures, which include a regular check on overloading by commercial vehicles, public transport and chalking out a comprehensive traffic management plan to avoid traffic congestion, besides construction of additional bridges for one-way traffic near toll barrier (Pinjore-Baddi road) and Lakkar Pul (Baddi-Barotiwala road).

The implementation of the action plan, however, appears to be tardy as key issues like scientific disposal of solid municipal waste is far from satisfactory and the open dumping of waste has become a major headache for the people residing in the vicinity of the plant site.

Officials of the Transport Department said they were not aware of any such move by the officials of the State Pollution Control Board, though they were routinely implementing the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act to ensure that vehicles had a valid pollution certification.

Though the board officials did undertake large-scale sapling plantation in June, a measure to mitigate air pollution in the area, being a long-term measure, its results will not be visible immediately.

Member Secretary, State Pollution Control Board, Dr RK Pruthi, when asked about the measures taken to improve the air quality of Baddi and Nalagarh, said a committee comprising the Deputy Commissioner, SP and officials from the Transport Department had been constituted to do the needful.

He said the officials of the Transport Department were told to check vehicular emissions and the issue of open burning of garbage was supposed to be handled by the local civic authorities.