Air quality management panel to set up base in Chandigarh

A day after the Supreme Court pulled up the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) for its failure to curb air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) due to stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, a team of the commission will set up base in Chandigarh for two months for ground monitoring of the situation.

Confirming the development, an official of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) said the commission’s team would arrive on October 1 and remain stationed in Chandigarh till November 30.

A communique, the copy of which is with The Tribune, reads: “It has been decided that flying squads of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) assisting the commission shall be deployed in various districts of Punjab and Haryana where incidents of paddy stubble burning are generally high.” The squads will coordinate with officials of the authorities concerned at the district level and nodal officers appointed by the state government.

They will assess the ground situation and report to the commission and the CPCB on daily basis, including the steps taken to prevent further incidents of stubble burning in various districts.

The SC yesterday said the CAQM needed to exercise its power under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act. “There has been total non-compliance of the Act,” it said.