Air quality in Dimapur, Kohima beyond permissible limit

DIMAPUR — Air quality in Dimapur and Kohima cities is beyond the permissible limit and has been categorised as non-attainment city by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), with bad roads (dust), waste burning and vehicular emissions as the contributing factors.

This was updated by Yanathung Kithan, member of Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), during an awareness campaign on National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) held at Livingstone Foundation International, Dimapur on Saturday.

The campaign was organised by the Dimapur district administration in collaboration with Livingstone Foundation Society and Breeze Women Welfare Association, on the theme ‘Celebrating International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.’

Kithan said NPCB has been monitoring the air quality of Kohima and Dimapur for more than a decade under the National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP), and under this programme, there are about 39 air monitoring stations covering 10 districts in Nagaland.

These stations monitor the quality of air on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for 24 hours and after laboratory analysis, the data is sent to CPCB.

As per the CPCB, Dimapur and Kohima fall under non-attainment city category, which means that the air quality is beyond permissible limit set by the central pollution board, he said.

The NPCB member also informed that there are seven air quality monitoring stations in Dimapur, covering both residential and commercial areas.

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While the permissible particulate matter limit is 60 micrograms per metre cube, as per data, Dimapur recorded about 98 micrograms per metre cube last year.

“This is a matter of concern because we are a small state and we do not have industries but bad roads leading to dust, burning of waste and vehicular emissions, are the main factors contributing to air pollution,” he said.

He also informed that at present there are 131 non-attainment cities in the country. Therefore, looking into the scenario of the air quality in the country, the CPCB and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched a programme in 2019 known as National Clean Air Programme, and under this the central government has set a target that by 2026 the air quality of these non-attainment cities should go down by 40%, Kithan said.

Even if the central government brings out good schemes, until the public participates, it will be difficult to attain the target, he added.

Hukheto Yepthomi, chairperson of Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC), also expressed his concerns on alarming air pollution in Dimapur and other parts of the state.

He called upon all concerned including the government, institutions, civil society and individuals to collaborate to reduce air pollution.

Yepthomi further urged everyone to commit to policies and practices that prioritise clean air, and also educate the community to make choices that protect the atmosphere.

Andrew Ahoto Sema, chairman of Livingstone Foundation International (LFI), informed that more than 20 schools from Dimapur district are participating in the campaign.

Lamenting that most people are not bothered for planet Earth, he urged everyone to act seriously and think about renewing Earth’s resources and not exploiting through greed.

He also shared on the visible climate change in the Northeast as manifested in landslide, flood and other natural calamities.

During the programme, all the participants took an oath to support improving air quality by taking pledge on 10-action points. A tree plantation drive was also held after the programme.