Alarming Pollution In Odisha’s Rourkela City; Admin To Send Air Samples For Test

Rourkela: Acute air pollution in the steel city of Rourkela has made life miserable for the residents for the last three days raising concerns over excess pollution. Sundargarh district administration has decided to send air samples for test.

Talking to the media, district collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan said he has received the report from regional office of Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) that there is acute air pollution in Rourkela.

“As we have received multiple responses from people, we have asked the OSPCB authorities to collect air samples of the city for test to ascertain whether it is due to the forest fire or smoke emitted from Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). On the basis of the report we will take appropriate measures,” he pointed out.

The collector advised the people to take necessary precautions. “As the air pollution causes health hazards, I request the city residents to wear mask while going out of their house,” he added.

“Due to dense smoke, visibility has reduced making it very difficult to drive vehicles. We had earlier thought that the city has a cloudy weather, but we later realised that this is air pollution after we felt burning sensation in our eyes and nose,” said a resident of the city.