Guwahati: In a significant step to address the city’s deteriorating air quality, iFOREST, in partnership with the Assam Pollution Control Board (APCB), on Tuesday released Guwahati’s first comprehensive hotspot-based Clean Air Action Plan. The plan is based on detailed ward-level mapping to identify pollution concentration zones and outline targeted measures to reduce emissions.
Guwahati has been grappling with chronic air pollution since 2017, with particulate matter levels frequently exceeding national ambient air quality standards.
Rapid urbanisation, a sharp rise in vehicle numbers, large-scale construction activity, open waste burning and industrial growth have steadily worsened the situation. As the fastest-growing city in Northeast India, Guwahati’s bowl-shaped topography—surrounded by the Khasi hills and the Brahmaputra river—further restricts pollutant dispersion, intensifying pollution from transport, dust, cooking, waste burning and industry. Long-term monitoring data shows a consistent rise in PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ levels between 2017 and 2022.
Speaking at the launch, iFOREST CEO Chandra Bhushan said air pollution imposes a significant economic burden, costing between three and five percent of India’s GDP due to its impact on health and productivity.
He noted that air pollution essentially consists of smoke from burning and dust from disturbed surfaces, and stressed that the immediate priority should be to meet existing air quality standards. He said the Guwahati Clean Air Plan has been designed to achieve this in a comprehensive and practical manner.
APCB Chairman Prof. Arup Kumar Misra said air pollution was once unheard of in Guwahati but has now become a serious concern due to prolonged dry spells, reduced rainfall, extensive flyover construction, a growing vehicle population, high winds and resuspension of dust.
He emphasised that public cooperation is crucial, adding that controlling pollution without community participation would be extremely difficult. He described the plan as a sincere effort, with iFOREST providing technical support, and said the board remains open to dialogue.
A musician and composer, who has been named Goodwill Ambassador to the clean air initiative, underlined the need to take discussions on air pollution beyond academic and elite spaces to reach people who have little access to such conversations.
The plan draws on satellite-derived Aerosol Optical Depth analysis, which shows distinct seasonal pollution hotspots across Guwahati. During summer, pollution is concentrated along the silted Brahmaputra riverbanks and floodplains, dust-prone riverbed zones, construction-intensive wards and major traffic corridors where road dust resuspension is high.
In winter, hotspots spread across central and eastern Guwahati as poor atmospheric dispersion combines with emissions from residential heating, waste burning, commercial cooking and traffic congestion.
High-density commercial corridors such as Fancy Bazar, Ganeshguri, Beltola, Zoo Road Tiniali, Maligaon and Lokhra consistently record elevated pollution levels due to clusters of restaurants, tea stalls and informal food vendors.
Major markets and transport hubs including Paltan Bazar, Bhangagarh, Uzan Bazar, Six Mile, Azara and Jalukbari show high PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ concentrations linked to continuous cooking activity and traffic congestion. Prevailing south-westerly winds further carry pollutants towards the northeast, intensifying hotspot formation.
The study identifies open waste burning as one of the most visible and damaging sources of pollution. Guwahati generates around 884 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, but existing infrastructure processes only about 35 percent.
An estimated 333 tonnes remain unprocessed, leading to widespread dumping and burning. Field surveys suggest nearly 61 tonnes of waste are burned daily, emitting around 122 tonnes of PM₂.₅ and 22 tonnes of black carbon annually. The city’s landfill alone emits more than 5,600 tonnes of methane each year.
Residential cooking and winter heating also contribute significantly to neighbourhood-level pollution. Although LPG coverage in the city stands at about 96 percent, fuel stacking remains common, particularly in slums and hilly settlements where biomass, charcoal and kerosene continue to be used.
Residential cooking is estimated to contribute nearly 3,900 tonnes of PM₂.₅ annually, while winter heating—largely absent from existing clean air strategies—adds substantially to seasonal particulate and black carbon emissions.
Commercial cooking in markets and informal food clusters leads to concentrated evening pollution, with coal and charcoal use combined with open burning of food and packaging waste.
Transport emissions are driven by the rapid growth of private vehicles, which make up around 85 percent of the fleet, limited public transport capacity, ageing vehicles, congestion on major corridors and weak enforcement of Pollution Under Control norms.
Diesel generator sets, widely used during power outages, add to PM₂.₅, PM₁₀ and nitrogen oxide emissions across residential, commercial and industrial areas, including mobile towers.
Industrial sources such as brick kilns, stone crushers, cement plants and boilers rely heavily on coal and older technologies.
Total PM₁₀ emissions from industries in the Kamrup Metropolitan area are estimated at around 1,940 tonnes per year, compounded by pollution transported from the nearby Byrnihat industrial cluster.
The Clean Air Action Plan proposes a phased, hotspot-focused approach, calling for an end to open waste burning through improved collection, decentralised processing and strict enforcement, faster transitions to clean fuels for households and commercial kitchens, and the introduction of clean heating solutions.
It also recommends strengthening transport management through better PUC enforcement, improved public transport including small electric buses, and upgrades to road infrastructure.
Other measures include mechanised road sweeping, stricter construction dust controls, post-flood silt management, cleaner industrial fuels and technologies, continuous emission monitoring for highly polluting industries, low-cost sensor networks and stronger community-level awareness campaigns to improve waste segregation, which currently stands at just 16 percent.
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