AGARTALA:
The Tripura Government has taken a series of steps to control air pollution in the state, including ban on garbage burning at open places, said Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma on March 22.
Varma was replying to CPIM MLA Narayan Choudhury, who questioned the government on what steps were being taken to reduce air pollution in Tripura, which according to the Centre for Science and Environment, is one of the top two polluted cities in Northeast.
Replying to this query, the deputy Chief minister, who also holds Environment ministry portfolio said that the state government was aware of this and several measures are being taken to address the issue.
“The Tripura State Pollution Control Board has undertaken multiple steps and plans for improving air quality, and the concerned department has been asked to implement it”, he said adding that an action plan to tackle the problem has been submitted to Central Pollution Control Board.
“The State Pollution Control Board has already conducted an air pollution survey in Agartala and in the West District of the state. According to the report, some remedial measures have been suggested to control air pollution,” he said.
The minister informed that at present, a Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station has been set up at Gorkhabasti in Agartala. In addition, the work of setting up another Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station at Bardowali has been completed and the trial run is underway.
“In other cities too, our department monitors and checks the air quality on festival days through portable devices and the concerned departments are informed to take appropriate action. Planting of trees on both sides of the road, prevention of dust with water on the road, etc. are being undertaken”, he said.
He also informed that the state government is encouraging people to use CNG vehicles instead of conventional fuels and emphasis is being laid on the use of E-riksha and E-Vehicle. Apart from these, the government has also imposed a ban on the burning of any kind of waste in open space.
“In order to control air pollution, the State Pollution Control Board also monitors various factories across the state”, Jishnu added.