If you are contemplating a construction activity anytime soon, be prepared to take measures to prevent air pollution.
A high-level meeting on Wednesday, held in the city under the chairmanship of chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, took multiple decisions to curb the ill effects of construction work and vehicles in regard to the environment. Senior officials from different departments participated in the meeting among others.
Constructions in the city will have to adhere to environment-friendly practices to ensure minimal air pollution. Concrete steps would be taken to phase out vehicles, more than 15 years old.
"Based on the data collected from three ambient air quality-monitoring stations installed at Gandhi Maidan, Indira Gandhi Science Complex (Patna planetarium) and Beltron Bhavan, it has been found that vehicular emission and building construction activities are the two main sources of air pollution. We deliberated on eco-friendly fuels such as liquid petroleum gas and compressed natural gas for vehicles. It was also decided that PMC should take an undertaking from developers to resort to environment-friendly construction practices such as use of sprinklers and curtains," said a senior official.
He said the level of industrial pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide - emitted from vehicles - in the air is within permissible limit but that of respiratory suspended particulate matter is much higher. Regular observation at the three monitoring stations show that the level of air pollutants is comparatively higher at Gandhi Maidan and Planetarium.
The transport department has also failed to stop the operation of vehicles, which are more than 15 years old in the city despite an order regarding the same issued in 2013. Sources said of the 375 buses running under the City Service Mini Bus Seva, around 100 are expected to be older than 15 years. A few hundred autorickshaws and six-seaters are also expected to be more than 15 years old.
"Steps would also be taken to ensure clean technology in the brick kilns," said the official.