With the setting of winter in Ahmedabad, the air quality in Ahmedabad has worsened. The Air Quality Watcher (SAFAR) recorded the concentration of PM 2.5 at 215 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3). Two areas stand out for the very poor category. Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has sent a legal notice to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) stating that the situation is in direct violation of the Environmental Protection Act.
The notice said that the continuous burning of solid waste in Pirana resulted in heavier PM (particulate matter) than in other parts of the city, making it a “major source” of air pollution. In Ahmedabad due to this, the health of the people is being affected and the visibility on the Vasana-Narol road has also decreased.
Further, a fresh inquiry conducted by GPCB’s regional officer a week ago on November 1 found serious lapses in the functioning of the AMC. As the fresh waste was deposited at the site behind Excel Industries, AMC did not provide a sanitary landfill site at the location. It also did not put up a boundary wall around the dump site.
The notice states that there is no approach road to control emissions from Pirana. Not only this, there is no fire hydrant system to extinguish the fire.
The GPCB notice states that the AMC is violating the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 as well as the Environment (Protection) Act 1986. AMC has been asked to respond to the notice within 15 days.
Meanwhile, Solid Waste Management (SWM) department of the AMC has said that they have not received the notice yet. They claimed that bio-mining work is going on in full swing in Pirana. AMC has already cleared 45 acres of land in the last one and a half years.
“After the arrival of the new commissioner, we have increased the bio-mining capacity from 7,000 metric tonnes to 12,000 metric tonnes per day by commissioning repairs and additional machines,” a senior Municipal official stated.
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