SHILLONG: The Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) may get central assistance to increase its air and water monitoring stations.
A delegation of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) led by the chairman S P Parihar visited Shillong on Friday for a meeting with representatives from all northeastern states.
MSPCB Chairman CP Marak said the Board has 54 water and 10 air monitoring stations from where samples are collected. The Board is keen to increase the numbers so that more areas can be covered.
During the visit, the central board enquired about the capacity of state boards as far as manpower is concerned besides their capacity to handle the new rules notified last year.
The central board also expressed its interest in strengthening the hands of the state boards in the northeastern region to enable them to address the issue of pollution more effectively.
The issue of ban on coal mining was also discussed in the meeting but since the matter is sub judice, the Board expressed its inability to do anything except monitoring the water and air quality.
The CPCB further directed state pollution control boards in the north east to speed up live monitoring of emissions and effluents from major polluting industries on a continuous basis to help arrest environmental dilapidation in the region.
