Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 29: The Parliamentary Panel’s serious concern on increasing air and water pollution in Ladakh region has no taker in Jammu and Kashmir as State Pollution Control Board has yet not initiated any step towards establishment of monitoring stations, which were sanctioned several years back.
All what has happened following the recommendations of the panel is dashing of communication by the Leh-based officer to the main office of the Pollution Control Board, where the same has been gathering dust because of least interest from the top brass.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that as pollution by growing number of vehicles started affecting environment of Ladakh, three monitoring stations were sanctioned for Leh, Zanskar and Nubra under National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAQMP) several years back.
Moreover, keeping in view ever growing number of tourists and subsequent generation of garbage and other waste material, which carry threat to pollute water, a proposal was mooted for monitoring of water pollution by six new stations at Leh Nullah, Indus River, Pangong Lake, Tsomoriri Lake, Niddar Nullah and Hunder Tokpo.
However, neither air quality nor water pollution monitoring stations could be established till date mainly because of the least interest from the State Pollution Control Board, which otherwise had to play exclusive role in this direction so as to achieve pollution mitigation goals, sources regretted, adding “the intensity of non-serious approach can be gauged from the fact that even machinery or equipment required for air quality and water pollution monitoring stations have not been purchased till date”.
Due to this, the air and water pollution in Ladakh continued to increase during all these years and nobody ever preferred to put pressure on the State Pollution Control Board to initiate steps for establishment of monitoring stations.
The issue again came to the fore when the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Forests visited Leh on May 27, 2015. The Committee felt that pollution by growing number of vehicles had been affecting the region and the ever growing number of tourists was leading to heaps of polybags and garbage, which were subsequently polluting the water in the absence of any mechanism for scientific disposal.
Expressing concern over the issue, the Parliamentary Panel passed the directions for making operational three stations under National Air Quality Monitoring Programme at Leh, Zanskar and Nubra at the earliest. Moreover, the Panel directed that the proposal for monitoring of water pollution by six new stations at Leh Nullah, Indus River, Pangong Lake, Tsomoriri Lake, Niddar Nullah and Hunder Tokpo should be taken up by the State Pollution Control Board on priority basis and decision conveyed to the Leh District Administration.
Despite lapse of over four months since the passing of explicit directions by the Parliamentary Panel, no action has been taken to monitor air and water pollution and initiate necessary measures to check the same, sources said.
Though District Forest Officer (DFO) Leh, Mohd Ali, who is also looking after the affairs of State Pollution Control Board in the district wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Board and Member Secretary keeping in view the directions of the Parliamentary Panel, the latter preferred to ignore the same, sources said, adding “this clearly indicates that the concern of the Parliamentary Panel is no issue for those at the helm of affairs in the Pollution Control Board”.
When contacted, DFO Leh said, “I have written to the Chairman and Member Secretary of the Board on the issue a number of times but no step has been initiated till date for establishment of monitoring stations”, adding “I have not received any response to the communication sent following the visit of Parliamentary Panel”.
Chairman, State Pollution Control Board, Abdul Razaq said, “we are going to purchase equipment for the establishment of air and water pollution monitoring stations”. He, however, failed to specify any time-frame for completion of this exercise and formal establishment of monitoring stations.
“Since the climatic conditions in the region are going to be harsh in the coming months, the installation exercise would not be possible till May-June next year”, he further said.
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