Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said that both his state and neighbouring Assam have the responsibility to improve the air quality of Byrnihat, listed as India's most polluted town in 2024.
Byrnihat in Meghalaya is located on the border of the two states and in between two industrial areas of the two northeastern neighbours.
Sangma said in the assembly that he would formally write to his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma about the need for the two states to jointly address the issue of air pollution in the area.
He was replying to a call attention motion moved by Jirang MLA Sosthenes Sohtun who quoted CPCB data that revealed very poor air quality in Byrnihat, which is within his constituency.
Replying to the motion, Sangma said he has given standing orders to the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board to conduct surprise checks on industrial units in the state.
"As many as seven industrial units have been closed down for flaunting the norms leading to air pollution. Surprise checks will continue and wherever we find that any industrial unit is flaunting the rules, the government will take firm action," he said.
Actions are taken against polluting units in Meghalaya first before the neighbouring would be asked to act on theirs, Sangma said.
"The two states and their respective pollution control boards must work together and we have taken steps towards that," he said.
The chief minister also called upon the local community to partner with the government to minimise aspects of pollution.
In 2023, the CPCB had first declared Byrnihat as the most polluted urban centre in the country surpassing the national capital Delhi and all other metropolises and cities, with an AQI of 302 which put it in the category of "very poor". In 2024, there was no improvement and the air quality was still "very poor".
