Photo Courtesy: nenow
Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court blasted the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board for dragging its feet on Byrnihat pollution. Judges caught the agency failing to act on a March 2025 air quality report. Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh slammed the board during a July 7 hearing.
The MSPCB hired the CSIR-NEERI in 2024 to trace pollution sources in Byrnihat and the Export Promotion Industrial Park. That report arrived in March. It detailed how steel plants, smelters, and alloy facilities choke the town. Heavy traffic on the Guwahati-Shillong National Highway adds to the mess. Byrnihat holds the title of a non-attainment town for PM10 and ranked as the world's most polluted spot in late 2023 or early 2024.
Experts want industries to install particulate control systems. They suggest building greenbelts and switching to renewable energy. The court also took a swipe at the Health Department. The judges noted that the Health Department's status report was "sketchy" and failed to cover the core issues of the case.
The High Court dragged the MSPCB and the Central Pollution Control Board into the legal fight. MSPCB lawyers asked for more time to file an affidavit. The bench set the next hearing for July 23.
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