Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi expresses concern over Guwahati's pollution levels, slams BJP for ignoring issue

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi expressed concern over Guwahati's ranking as second most polluted city in the world as per the report released by the Swiss based Air Quality Technology Company. The report titled the "2023 World Air Quality Report- Region & City OM2.5 Ranking," has stirred panic among Guwahati residents.

Guwahati is the second most polluted city, as per the data shared by World Air Quality Report 2023. The alarming rise in pollution is endangering health of citizens. Children and elderly are especially vulnerable to its impact. 

Taking to Facebook, the Lok Sabha MP in his post targeted Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the double engine government for ignoring the issue as the impact of the pollution is slowly acting as a slow poison for millions around the country. 

"As convenor of the Parliamentarians’ Group on Clean Air, I have written to the Assam Chief Minister multiple times to take corrective action. The double engine sarkar has no concern for alarming levels of pollution - a slow poison for millions of citizens", mentioned Gogoi in his Facebook post. 

According to the PCBA, the report has created unnecessary fear among Guwahatians and the general public in the state. The PCBA clarified that Guwahati was actually reported as the second-most polluted regional city in Central and South Asia based on an average PM2.5 level of 105.4 μg/m3 in 2023.

In response to the report Shantanu Kumar Dutta, Member Secretary of PCBA issued a statement highlighting the monitoring measures in place. The PCBA continuously monitors ambient air quality in Guwahati through sophisticated Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) located at four key locations across the city.

These stations, situated at the PCBA headquarters in Bamunimaidam, Panbazar at Cotton University, Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport and IIT Guwahati employ approved technology by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Government of India.

Dutta emphasized that the data generated by these monitoring stations contradicts the findings of the IQAir report. He cited the average monthly PM2.5 concentration in Guwahati recorded at 52.8 μg/m3 in 2023, with a maximum concentration of 98.3 μg/m3 and a minimum of 22.62 μg/m3.

Also read: Assam: Pollution Control Board rejects claim of Guwahati being second most polluted city