Nagaland: Kohima lacks prescribed air quality standards, says NPCB
Dimapur: Aghali A Swu, senior environmental engineer, Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), on Friday said state capital Kohima does not meet the national ambient air quality standards.
Citing air quality data collected by the Magog Pollution Control Board since 2010, Swu said Kohima town is yet to reach the prescribed air quality standards of 60 micrograms per cubic meter.
Delivering the keynote address at a talk show on International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, 2025, organised by the NPCB, at Capital Convention Centre in Kohima, she also said Kohima and Dimapur failed to meet the prescribed air quality standards for five consecutive years from 2011 to 2015, per the Central Pollution Control Board.
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Swu added under the National Air Monitoring Programme, the Magog Pollution Control Board has set up four manual air monitoring stations and one continuous ambient air quality monitoring station in Kohima.
She stated that with the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change, launching the National Clean Air Programme in 2019, various stakeholders are involved to implement action plans to mitigate air pollution in Dimapur and Kohima towns.
She emphasised that achieving clean air is not the sole responsibility of the stakeholders but a shared responsibility that rests on each one of us. She said it can be attained only through collective action by protecting our environment and building a future for blue skies, clean air and healthy lives.
The NPCB hosted the talk show, under the National Clean Air Programme “The Air We Share : Bridging Policy and Public Action”, calling for collaboration between various stakeholders, civil societies and the public to bring about tangible changes and achieve meaningful progress to ensure clean air.
Kohima DC B Henok Buchem, SP Krodi Rhetso, member secretary, NPCB, Hukato K Chishi, MD (respiratory medicine) Dr Kezholenu Sakhrie, and a BA 3rd semester student of Oriental College Kohima Aningle were the panelists of the show, which was moderated by Rongsenben Longkumer, junior scientific assistant, NPCB.