Nagaland Pollution Control Board with Dimapur Municipal Council leads road dust cleanup drive.
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DIMAPUR — In an effort to tackle rising pollution levels in Dimapur, the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), in collaboration with the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) and Police Commissionerate Dimapur, on Saturday undertook an action-oriented awareness initiative in cleaning the road dust from Plaza Point till Nagarjan Police Point.
The drive was held in partnership with Team Better Dimapur, Can Youth, Pro Rural, Earth Alliance Nagaland and Skilled Educational Society.
The cleanup, which started at 5 am, lasted for around 5 hours, with teams collecting roughly 16 tonnes (16,000 kg) of dust along the Plaza Point to Nagarjan Police Point stretch, said Yanathung Kithan, scientist ‘B’ at NPCB to Eastern Mirror.
To clear the collected dust, Tata Mobile pick-up, tractor-mounted and mini trucks were deployed, which made around 16 trips through the morning, supported by 230 volunteers.
“The dust accumulation was surprising” said Kithan, pointing towards two main culprits, construction debris dumped haphazardly on roadsides and incomplete road construction leaving gaps on both sides of the road where dust piles up.
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He noted that the state’s roads are often left incomplete, with gaps where dust accumulates and good portion of the roads are left out.
To prevent this, he urged authorities to push for end-to-end construction in future road projects for better roads and cleaner air.
The scientist said that the follow-up drive will likely be taken up during the winter season as dust accumulation during this season is high compared to the monsoon season.
However, he assured that if any groups or department initiate such a drive and also include other routes, the NPCB will always support the initiative.
He also noted that the fight for clean air depends on the cooperation and participation of every citizen of Dimapur.
The road dust cleanup aims to spotlight Dimapur’s air quality crisis as the city’s ambient air is above national standards, landing it among India’s 130 non-attainment cities with impacts on health and environment.
The collected sand was disposed of at a resident’s request and some was used to fill a depression in the Police Colony road.