Bhubaneswar: As many as six cities of Odisha come in a list of 102 cities of the country that are considered non-attainment cities with reference to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), state Forest and Environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukha said Wednesday.
The non-attainment cities are those which do not meet the environmental and pollution norms prescribed by NAAQS.
Arukha made the remark while addressing the 36th foundation day of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) at Soochana Bhawan here Wednesday.
The minister said this year, the theme of world environment day was to beat air pollution, and in Odisha there are six cities — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Angul, Talcher and Rourkela — which are among the 102 places of India that are considered non-attainment cities under NAAQS. This is serious concern and the board and department are focusing on changing the status.
Arukha added that the OSPCB is also monitoring the ambient air quality at 36 stations in 17 important towns like Angul, Talcher, Rourkela, Rayagada, Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Puri, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Balasore, Kalinga Nagar, Jajpur, Paradip, Bonaigarh, Konark and Rajgangpur under National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring programme.
The minister said climate change is a reality we can’t ignore and in order to address this, the OSPCB and the government are taking measures.
Going tough on single use plastics, Arukha said that on occasion of Gandhi Jayanti the state government will ban single use plastic across the state. “We have resolved to ban its usage in the urban areas coming under the municipal corporation jurisdictions. We had sought feedback and objections of the citizens on the issue till September 12 and have asked them to respond within 15 days on the issue,” he said.
Environment director cum special secretary to Forest and Environment department K Murugesan said Odisha is one of the fastest growing states in Eastern India. Also, out of all eastern states, Odisha is 90 per cent vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Principal secretary of the Forest Department Mona Sharma said under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project of OSPCB and her department, a drive has started for blue flag certification of the beaches along the coastal stretches of the state.
Blue flag is a tag given to environment friendly and clean beaches equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists.
As per the proposal of the state government, the OSPCB has been involved in conducting beach monitoring since February 2019 to assess the environmental qualities of the beaches. It is monitored in five coastal stretches of the state.
Chief environmental scientist of OSPCB PK Prusty said air pollution is a serious issue of modern times and the degree of pollution is increasing day by day. As of now only 12 per cent of the cities across the globe meet the ambient air quality standard of WHO. OSPCB is doing its bit in combating the air pollution, said Prusty.
The board has also implemented GPRS based real time data transmission system with Y cable for online stack, ambient air quality and water monitoring network round the clock. So far, a number of online monitoring and date transmission systems have been installed in 150 industrial areas and 24 mines in the state.
On the occasion, pollution control excellence and appreciation awards were given to the selected industries, mines and healthcare establishments.