GUWAHATI: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday, March 13, refuted reports of Meghalaya's Byrnihat being the most polluted in the world, saying that the township recorded 'Satisfactory' air quality most of the days whereas Byrnihat, Assam, recorded 'Poor' to 'Very Poor' air quality on most days.
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In a statement in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, he said, "It may be pointed out that the AQI generated from the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring station installed in the Central Academy for State Forest Service, Byrnihat, Assam, still reflected the AQI as 'Poor' or 'Very Poor' during most of the days. This indicates most of the air pollution may be attributed to industries and other activities along the Assam side."
"The Byrnihat industrial area in Assam, which runs across the Byrnihat town of Meghalaya has been designated as a critically polluted area by the Central Pollution Control Board. In fact, it may be pointed out that there are 20 red-category industries in Byrnihat, Assam, and five red-category industries in Byrnihat, Meghalaya," he added.
Sangma's statement came after Byrnihat in Meghalaya was declared as the most polluted metropolitan area globally last year by IQAir’s 2024 World Air Quality Report released on March 11.
