Meghalaya boosts pollution surveillance; CM inaugurates CAAQMS in Byrnihat
The newly installed CAAQMS will generate real-time data on key air-quality parameters, enabling authorities to take timely corrective measures & frame evidence-based environmental policies.
Sangma visited the various labs for air and water quality monitoring at the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board office
Shillong, Dec 12: Meghalaya has intensified air-quality monitoring in the industrial hub of Byrnihat—identified in recent assessments as one of the country’s most polluted towns—with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma inaugurating a Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) in Ri-Bhoi district, officials said.
Situated along the Assam-Meghalaya border, Byrnihat has repeatedly featured among India’s worst pollution hotspots in studies by IQAir and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, they added.
According to officials, the newly installed CAAQMS will generate real-time data on key air-quality parameters, enabling authorities to take timely corrective measures and frame evidence-based environmental policies.
Earlier in Shillong, Sangma, who also heads the Forests and Environment Department, chaired a review meeting of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) to assess its functioning and streamline operations.
“We had positive discussions and reviewed the working of the board. We also discussed steps to streamline its functioning to make it more effective,” he said, adding that a follow-up meeting will be held in January to chart out measures for expanding the board’s mandate.
The chief minister also inaugurated a zero liquid discharge effluent treatment plant and a 47 kW grid-connected rooftop solar photovoltaic system at the MSPCB office, before visiting the board’s laboratories, officials said.
With inputs from PTI