Aurangabad: Amid the non-compliance of the steel industries to the notices of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to upgrade their plants, the air quality of the city is deteriorating. Meanwhile, citizens and activists allege that the municipal council is apathetic towards the problem of air pollution.In a report of the Central Pollution Control Board (PCB), based on the PM 10 levels of five consecutive years, Jalna was one of 17 cities in Maharashtra and 92 cities in India which were found to be violating the PM 10 standards set by the PCB.Subsequently, the city was asked to prepare an action plan to improve its air quality. After much persistence, Jalna submitted its air quality action plan earlier this year but it has not taken any measures to address the problem. Court Road resident Yassar Arafat said that the heavy smog in the city during the morning hours makes it impossible to go for a morning walk. “One can also feel the increased temperature while entering the city. Everyone is being affected by the poor air quality,” Arafat said.The draft action plan for Jalna was prepared by Geetanjali Kaushik, director of environmental research and consultancy agency Maha-Parivesh. According to Kaushik, to begin with, the city needs to hold workshops for all stakeholders and create citizen awareness initiatives to inform people that the problem exists.She added that several steel industries in Jalna, who have not complied with the pollution control board’s directive, are adding heavily to the air pollution. “The steel industries end up producing a lot of particulate matter. They are expected to install filters for their chimneys to prevent these particles from being released into the air. The failure to do so reduces the air quality of the city,” she said.Jalna Municipal Council chief officer Santosh Khandekar said that the city has held workshops and awareness initiatives but added that the industries do not come under his jurisdiction. However, Kaushik said that efforts to push the civic body into organizing workshops or creating public awareness initiatives have not succeeded. “The 74th amendment of the Constitution of India obligates the urban local bodies to provide a clean environment to the citizens. So, the municipal body cannot wash its hands off its responsibility,” Kaushik added.

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