Telangana Govt implements action plan for reducing air pollution in Hyderabad

The TSPCB has awarded a study of 'Emission inventory, source apportionment, and carrying capacity' to IIT Kanpur in order to identify the sources of air pollution and to redress them effectively.

Hyderabad: Telangana government is implementing an action plan for reduction of air pollution in the non-attainment cities i.e. air pollution exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Hyderabad is one of the non-attainment city in Telangana.

The Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) has awarded a study of ‘Emission inventory, source apportionment, and carrying capacity’ to IIT Kanpur in order to identify the sources of air pollution and to redress them effectively. The draft report submitted by IIT, Kanpur, was deliberated with experts under the chairmanship of Rajat Kumar, Special Chief Secretary in the Irrigation and Command Area Development Department.

---

He said the emission inventory report is prepared in a grid of 2/2 square km for Hyderabad up to the Outer Ring Road area identifying all the sources. “This will help the State government in fine-tuning the action plan and focusing on the hotspot management for reducing air pollution,” he said.

Prof. Mukesh Sharma from IIT Kanpur made a presentation on the findings of the study which involves extensive ambient air sampling, traffic studies, estimation of the different sources of air pollution, and the mitigation measures that are to be initiated. He said the PM 2.5 concentration was marginally exceeding the standards in Hyderabad and can be brought below the NAAQS with the implementation of the action plan.

Neetu Prasad, member secretary, TSPCB, B.Sengupta, ex-member secretary, Central Pollution Control Board, experts from educational institutions, and other TSPCB officials were present.