Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Concerned over rising pollution levels in seven major cities of the state including Bhopal, and Jabalpur, Central Pollution Control Board and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board under the aegis of the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) organised a workshop to review the situation and take necessary steps on Wednesday. According to officials, the air quality in Gwalior is the poorest among these seven cities. “If the situation here is not improved in time, a situation like Delhi will arise.
Indore has the best air quality and the work is being done to pull down the pollution with the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the last five years,” officials said. Since 2019, funds are being released by NCAP to reduce air pollution in Indore, Gwalior, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Sagar, Dewas and Ujjain cities of Madhya Pradesh.
Principal Secretary, Environment Department Gulshan Bamra, who was presiding over the workshop, said that the air quality in Delhi becomes worse during the winter season so much so that even schools and colleges have to be closed. “The same situation is now developing in Madhya Pradesh also. The condition of Gwalior, especially in terms of air quality, is very poor. We have selected seven cities in Madhya Pradesh, where air quality has to be improved. This workshop has been organised to discuss the issues and its solutions,” Bamra said.
NCAP Director Dr Prashant Gargava said that work is being done in cities where air quality is deteriorating. Indore's performance in air quality has been much better. Scientist N Subramaniam, regional director of Central Pollution Control Board P Jagan, regional officer of Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board Indore SN Dwivedi and others were present. During the workshop, Indore Municipal Corporation Commissioner Shivam Verma gave a presentation of the work being done regarding air quality in the city.
He mentioned that to improve the air quality, they have created Green Buffer Zones at different places in the city. “Solid waste management system, collection of road dust by machines, work on solar energy has been started, and 110 Ahilya Van are being prepared at different places. EV vehicles are continuously increasing in public transport. To charge these vehicles, 26 EV stations have been built across the city. Display boards have been installed for air quality, and other steps have been initiated.
