Commuters make their way through as fog envelops the Beach Road in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK
The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) authorities conducted an urgent review meeting over the deterioration of ambient air quality in Visakhapatnam, calling for immediate action by the stakeholder departments and industries in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts.
Visakhapatnam District Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad, GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg, the officials of Transport Department, APSRTC, R&B, NHAI, traffic police, representatives from industries including VPA, HPCL, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, AM&NS, NTPC participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, APPCB Chairman P. Krishnaiah expressed concerns over the deterioration of ambient air quality in the city, pointing out that AQI levels were in the ‘moderate to poor’ category.
Review of data from CAAQMS and manual monitoring stations indicated elevated concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅.
It was emphasised that the increased particulate levels were due to multiple factors, including vehicular emissions, road dust resuspension, construction and infrastructure activities, industrial and port-related operations, bulk material handling, and adverse meteorological conditions.
Sector-wise sources of particulate pollution and identified hotspots were discussed in detail. The compliance status of industries and the effectiveness of pollution control measures were reviewed.
The need for coordinated, time-bound action by all stakeholder departments was emphasised.
Mr. Harendhira Prasad highlighted that the major sources contributing to the poor Air Quality Index in Visakhapatnam include industrial emissions, vehicular emissions, road re-suspension dust, road excavation for laying underground cables, indiscriminate disposal of C&D waste, open burning of waste instead of transporting it to waste-to-energy plants, spillage of waste during transportation, and pollution at major traffic junctions.
As an immediate measure, the Collector said that committees would be constituted to assess dust concentration levels at various sources and identify the hotspots, with a view to curbing air pollution in the city.
Mr. Garg said that immediate measures would be taken and that special Task Force teams would be constituted to control dust pollution at various identified hotspots in the city.
Dr. P. Sandeep, Board Member, APPCB, informed that at present only one Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (CAAQM) station has been installed and is operational at the main hotspot near the RTC Complex, and that additional CAAQM stations need to be set up to obtain representative air quality data for the entire city.
He requested that surprise inspections be conducted to verify Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates of RTC buses and government vehicles.
The APPCB Chairman urged all stakeholder departments and industries to take immediate emergency measures to ensure compliance with prescribed air quality standards and improve ambient air quality.
Published – December 20, 2025 12:49 am IST
