Dust, vehicle emissions add to Byrnihat’s ‘poisonous’ air

SHILLONG, March 16: Byrnihat, an industrial town in the Assam-Meghalaya border, is facing an air crisis that is more complex than just industrial emissions. A recent report by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir has named Byrnihat the most polluted place in the world, highlighting the severity of its air crisis.
The report found that only 17% of global cities meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air pollution guidelines, highlighting how towns like Byrnihat are becoming unliveable due to toxic air.
Hundreds of heavy diesel trucks roll through Byrnihat daily, making it one of the busiest transit points in the region.
These trucks, many running on outdated engines, idle for hours at a stretch, releasing a constant stream of black smoke and fine particulate matter into the air. Their exhaust contains a cocktail of pollutants—PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur dioxide—all of which pose severe health risks. The congestion keeps their engines running, their emissions rising, and the air growing heavier with toxins.
The roads themselves make things worse, with many stretches remaining unpaved and turning into dust bowls as vehicles trudge along.
A survey conducted by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in 2022-23 revealed that road dust is a significant yet largely unrecognised contributor to Byrnihat’s air pollution.
Sulphur dioxide, one of the key pollutants in Byrnihat’s air, has severe health implications, triggering asthma attacks, reducing lung function, and contributing to long-term respiratory diseases.
Studies published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health show that prolonged exposure to sulphur dioxide can cause irreversible damage, particularly among children and the elderly.
Byrnihat’s growing pollution burden is turning into a health crisis zone, where breathing itself is becoming hazardous.