Twitter
Advertisement

Air pollution levels in Surat alarm GPCB

GPCB officials in Surat have decided to take steps to reduce air pollution in the city; focus is also on making the ambient air quality monitoring programme more effective.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Being heavily industrialised, air pollution is a big issue in Surat despite attempts by Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to tackle the problem.

 GPCB officials in Surat have decided to take steps to reduce air pollution in the city. For this they have sought help from different government departments. Focus is also on making the ambient air quality monitoring programme more effective.

One of the initiatives of GPCB is phasing out of commercial vehicles that are 15 years old, both petrol and diesel. Focus is mostly on diesel three-wheelers as they cause more pollution. According to GPCB, there are at least 75,000 old commercial vehicles in the city. The board is also planning a policy on upgradation of PUC testing centres.

Induction of computerised PUC system, third party auditing of PUC centres and surprise checking of centres are other measures. Setting up of facility for independent fuel testing and ban on sale of loose 2T oil is also in the list of GPCB.

“According to studies, vehicles contribute the most to air pollution and so we have planned these measures. We are also taking other initiatives to improve air quality in the city,” said A Patel, regional officer of GPCB in Surat.

On the industrial side, GPCB has plans to strengthen air quality monitoring by increasing number of monitoring stations, improving frequency of monitoring and monitoring of additional pollutants. It has already placed analysers at different points in industrial areas. Industries have also been asked to install CCTVs on chimneys.
 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement