Eluru: District collector K Vetriselvi has instructed officials to implement a robust plan to control air pollution in Eluru city.
A meeting of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) District Implementation Committee was held at the Collectorate under the chairmanship of the collector with officials from the Pollution Control Board, Municipal Corporation, Transport, Police, Forest, Industries and others on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, the collector said that all steps should be taken to provide clean air and a good environment to the residents of Eluru city. She said that as per the orders of the National Green Tribunal, the Central Pollution Control Board has ordered to take planned steps to control pollution in the cities with air pollution in the country. An amount of Rs 6.77 crore has been released in advance by the Central Environment Ministry to take air pollution control measures in the city. The Finance Department has sanctioned funds. The Collector ordered the Municipal Corporation and Police Departments to review the 2024-2025 works in the city and complete them quickly. The works to be undertaken in the city under the Clean Air Programme were reviewed.
The measures to be taken to provide clean air to the people of the city were discussed in the meeting. She said that steps should be taken to reduce the air pollution level by 20 to 80 per cent and improve the air quality. She wanted the Social Forest officials to take action on plantation and gardening in Shantinagar, Collector’s Office and Court areas of the city. She wanted to develop a park and grow plants on the Krishna Canal bund from the jute mill. White wet mapping should be done at the goods shed, Eluru railway shed junctions and road junctions. Details were learned about the distribution of cooking gas through pipelines in the city.
She ordered officials to inspect the private bunks in the city and test the quality of petrol and diesel.
As per the instructions of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Central and State Pollution Control Boards, Andhra University Environmental Engineering Professor S Balaprasad explained the reasons for the increase in air pollution in Eluru city and the steps to be taken to control it. He suggested that green vehicles should be introduced in the municipal corporation and that the transport department officials should take steps to make battery vehicles available to the public.
Pollution Control Board Environmental Engineer K Venkateswara Rao, Eluru Municipal Corporation Commissioner A Bhanupratap, District Industries Officer Subrahmanyeswara Rao, ZP CEO M Srihari, CPCB Consultant Komali, along with officials from transport, police, agriculture, civil supplies, forest and other departments participated in the meeting.
