The Telangana State Pollution Control Board reviewed the implementation of an action plan for reducing air pollutants, e-waste, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste processing to improve air quality in the city (TSPCB).
Special chief secretary, of environment, science and technology, Rajat Kumar, held a review meeting with a team from IIT-Kanpur, member secretary of the board Neetu Prasad, and others.
A presentation given by Mukesh Sharma, an academic from IIT-Kanpur, on a source apportionment study conducted in the city revealed that major sources of air pollution were identified as road dust, vehicular emissions, open burning, secondary pollutants, and industries.
Particulate matter in the air with sizes less than 10 and 2.5 microns are the add-ons to the pollution, stated Mukesh during the meeting.
Officials deliberated on additional measures to be taken for an immediate reduction in particulate matter, and they decided to hold a series of workshops to brainstorm on the action plan.
During the meeting, Rajat Kumar stated that the Centre is releasing funds to Hyderabad under the 15th Finance Commission for important activities to reduce air pollution.
“Based on the results of the study, the Air Quality Monitoring Committee (AQMC) will allocate the funds to different activities in the proportion to the source contribution,” he added.
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Citing the reduction in air pollution in Nalgonda town owing to various interventions, Rajat Kumar stated the focus is now on Hyderabad.
He also reviewed the implementation of the e-Waste Management Rules, noting that e-waste collection has increased from 30,000 to 44,000 tonnes per year.
The main challenge is still collecting e-waste from the domestic sector, as well as training the informal sector for scientific processing of the same.
Rajat Kumar directed the TSPCB to increase awareness programs through various media to sensitise all sections and improve the domestic collection mechanism.
The management of construction and demolition waste was also reviewed, and the total capacity was increased from 1000 to 2000 tonnes per day.
Rajat Kumar also directed that the C&D processed material should be made mandatory for re-use in different projects and made suggestions for the study of such policies in other states.
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