Air quality in Hyderabad moderate, needs to improve: Panel

Air pollution in Hyderabad is in satisfactory-to-moderate range and an action-plan has been prepared by the Telangana government to improve the air quality index to good quality. The 6th Air Quality Monitoring Committee meeting to review the implementation of the action-plan to reduce air pollution was held in the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary, Environment and Forests, Rajat Kumar, a press release said on Saturday.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had instructed to create lung space here in about 1,60,000 acres which include 59 urban parks that are under progress to increase the quality of the air, the release said. The committee advised various departments to focus on implementation of lane discipline, open biomass burning, as BS VI vehicles are introduced.

The panel suggested upgrading infrastructure to monitor the transport department along with discarding old vehicles and imposing penalties on polluting vehicles. Further, it was advised to TSPCB to publishthe air quality data to make people conscious of the degrading air quality and creation of awareness by the board. The committee advised the transport department to prioritise the uptake of the CNG by educational institute buses besides instructing the industries department to prepare a roadmap for shifting the polluting industries beyond the Outer Ring Road of the city.