Three cities – Bhubaneswar,Cuttack, Rourkela – and four towns – Balasore, Angul,TalcherandKalinganagar- have been reporting high Air Pollution.
A reply in the assembly by forest minister Pradip Amat while responding to a question of Bhandaripokhari MLA Prafulla Samal, said, “Seven cities in the state are identified as non-attainment cities. In these cities, the PM-10 and PM 2.5 are high in ambient air. In these places, clean air action plan has been devised as perNational Clean Air Programme(Ncap).”
Under Ncap, the state has received Rs 54.38 crore in the last financial year out of which Rs 20.52 crore has been sanctioned for Bhubaneswar, highest to ensure that steps are taken to reduce air pollution. While Angul is an industrial belt with major steel and sponge iron industries located there.