City will have more centres to check air pollution

MUMBAI:Mumbai and Pune would be part of a pilot project initiated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to keep a check on hazardous air pollutants, Union Environment Minister K Raja said on Friday. He was addressing a three-day meet, organised by the CPCB, at ‘The Retreat’ in Madh Island. Four other cities would also be part of the project.

The city would have two more air pollution control and monitoring stations under a World Bank-assisted project by CPCB. “Along with our monitoring stations in Mulund and Sion, we intend to have two more in the suburbs and in south Mumbai, respectively, for monitoring air quality round-the-clock,” said DB Boralkar, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) member-secretary.

The National Environment Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI) and the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) would monitor the pollutants in Mumbai and Pune, said Raja. Appreciating the MPCB’s compliance of court orders on air pollution, he said the pilot project would develop new intervention plans for cities exposed to this hazard. The agencies would have to submit their reports in 18 months’ time to the CPCB, which would devise an air pollution control strategy based on the findings, he said.

Maharashtra Minister for Environment Ganesh Naik said the state needed Rs3,700 crore for various environment projects and to set up common effluent treatment plants and bio-medical waste treatment centres. “The money will be raised through private-public participation and by floating a special purpose vehicle,” he said.