Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Punjab has constituted two committees to explore all the possibilities of increasing the green cover and check the dust emissions in the Mandi Gobindgarh town, informed Mr. KS Pannu, Director Tandrust Punjab Mission.Giving details, Pannu informed that a meeting was held with all the stakeholders/departments of Mandi Gobindgarh area to identify the sources of air pollution and measures required to control it. Therein, it was realised that a significant role in air pollution of Mandi Gobindgarh area is that of road dust. The poor conditions of the internal roads and the unpaved road shoulders emit dust due to heavy vehicular movement. So, it was decided that Municipal Council, Mandi Gobindgarh and Punjab Pollution Control Board shall do the mapping of all the dust emitting spots in Mandi Gobindgarh area and see that the necessary work to control the dust emission may be done by the concerned departments in a time bound manner. It was decided to constitute a Committee that shall identify all the dust emitting points in the town and shall mark them on the map and submit the Action Plan for stabilization of the dust emitting points in a time bound manner.
Besides, it was agreed upon that to control pollution, green cover in Mandi Gobindgarh may be increased to a significant level. Since, sufficient free area is available in the industries and other public places for plantation, so it was decided that Municipal Council, Mandi Gobindgarh and Forest Department shall do the mapping of all the space available in the town so that the green cover in Mandi Gobindgarh may be increased to contain pollution within prescribed limits. It was also decided that another committee may be constituted which shall identify all the space available for plantation in Mandi Gobindgarh area and shall mark them on a map and submit the Action Plan for plantation.The Committee constituted to identify the space available for plantation in Mandi Gobindgarh area includes the Director, Directorate of Environment & Climate Change, Punjab, as the Chairman, the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Amloh and Senior Environmental Engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Zonal Office-II, Patiala as Members, Environmental Engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Regional Office, Fatehgarh Sahib as Member & Convenor, Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Executive Officer, PWD (B&R) and the District Forest Officer, Mandi Gobindgarh as Members. Besides, the Committee constituted for mapping of all dust emitting points of Mandi Gobindgarh area shall include all the officers as above, barring the Forest Officer.To ensure the meticulous and time bound completion of work it was decided that the Committees shall hold a meeting twice a month to review the progress, informed Pannu.