An urgent review meeting was convened by the Hon’ble Chairman, APPCB, on 19.12.2025 at 5:30 PM to address the sudden deterioration of ambient air quality in Visakhapatnam City, calling for immediate action by the concerned stakeholder departments and industries of Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli Districts

An urgent review meeting was convened by the Hon’ble Chairman, APPCB, on 19.12.2025 at 5:30 PM to address the sudden deterioration of ambient air quality in Visakhapatnam City, calling for immediate action by the concerned stakeholder departments and industries of Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli Districts.

The District Collector, Visakhapatnam; the Commissioner, GVMC; the Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC), Visakhapatnam; the Regional Manager, APSRTC; the Superintending Engineer (R&B); the Project Director, NHAI; the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic); Dr. Panchakarla Sandeep, APPCB Board Member; Prof. S. Bala Prasad, Andhra University; and representatives of major industries, including VPA, HPCL, CIL, RINL (Vizag Steel Plant), Rain Carbon Ltd., AMNS Ltd., Visakha Pharma City, NTPC, etc., participated in the meeting.

The Chairman expressed serious concern over the recent deterioration of ambient air quality in the city, with AQI levels entering the “Moderate to Poor” category. Review of data from CAAQMS and manual monitoring stations indicated elevated concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅. 

It was emphasized 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 emphasized.

The District Collector, Visakhapatnam, highlighted that the major sources contributing to the poor Air Quality Index in Visakhapatnam City 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 District Collector informed that committees would be constituted to assess dust concentration levels at various sources and identified hotspots, with a view to curbing air pollution in the city.

The Commissioner, GVMC, informed 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 established to obtain representative air quality data for the entire city. He also requested that surprise inspections be conducted to verify Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates of RTC buses and government vehicles. 

The Chairman, APPCB, urged all stakeholder departments and industries to take immediate emergency measures to ensure compliance with prescribed air quality standards and improve ambient air quality.

                by Sharma K.V. 

                        EDITOR