HT Digital
SHILLONG, Mar 17: Byrnihat, an industrial township on the border of Assam and Meghalaya, is suffering from a severe air pollution crisis much wider than the industrial emissions.
The crisis has taken a critical dimension, as IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company, recently placed Byrnihat on the top position of the world’s most polluted locations in one of its recent reports. This stunning discovery identifies the declining quality of air in the town and its severe influence on the public health condition.
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The IQAir report also shows that only 17% of the world’s cities have air quality acceptable to the World Health Organization (WHO). Byrnihat’s polluted air is rapidly making it uninhabitable, ranking among the worst-hit areas. The main causes of the environmental catastrophe are unchecked industrial emissions, automobile pollution, and poor road conditions.
As one of the busiest transport nodes in the country, Byrnihat sees hundreds of heavy-duty diesel trucks daily crossing its roads. Most of them operate old engines, which spend hours idling and producing a constant trail of black smoke.
Their emissions spew out a toxic combination of pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur dioxide—all of which are grave health hazards. The chronic traffic jams also add to the problem by causing engines to idle for a long time, greatly raising pollutant levels.
The bad state of Byrnihat’s roads exacerbates the issue. Most parts of the roads are unpaved, becoming dust bases as traffic runs over them. In 2022-23, a survey by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) revealed road dust as the major but mostly ignored source of the town’s air pollution, which further poor quality air.
Sulphur dioxide, also one of Byrnihat’s major pollutants in the air, has serious implications for health. It can stimulate asthma, suppress lung function, and lead to chronic respiratory disorders. Research printed in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggests sulphur dioxide permanent damage to lungs, especially to children and adults, through sustained exposure.
