Bangalore: Karnataka is working on preparing
an air quality atlas for the state to generate information on
pollution status and locate pollution hotspots, a senior
government official said on Monday.
The initiative is being driven jointly by Karnataka`s
Ecology and Environment Department and Karnataka State
Pollution Control Board.
The department Secretary Kanwerpal said the idea was to
identify pollution hotspots in the state so that various
departments, under State Implementation Plan, could "act upon"
and initiate "interventions" to reduce pollution levels.
"We are working with KSPCB", he said at an All-India
workshop on "Urban Air Pollution Forecasting, Monitoring and
Implementation", here.
An index would be created based on 12 pollutants and
"people should know the quality of the air", Kanwerpal said.
He said the Union Government has declared 88 industrial
sites in the country, including five in Karnataka --
Mangalore, Bhadrawati, Peenya (Bangalore), Raichur and
Bidar -- as being polluted above accepted levels in terms of
air, water and land degradation.
Of the five, Mangalore and Bhadrawati industrial hubs had
been termed as "critically polluted".
"No more industrialisation of any kind" -- no
environmental clearance -- as a moratorium has been declared
for eight months in the five hubs, Kanwerpal said, adding, the
state had initiated an action plan to reduce pollution levels.
PTI
