New initiatives to monitor pollution face flak from city residents

The Hindu

28-04-2025

The Environment Minister's recent announcement in the Assembly on the remote monitoring of rivers, air pollution, and noise pollution in Chennai has faced criticism from residents and activists, who say it is ineffective and a waste of public funds.
One initiative involves deploying a mobile monitoring van equipped with state-of-the-art analysers to immediately respond to disasters like gas leaks, oil spills, fires, and foaming, and to swiftly attend to public complaints, in real-time across Chennai, at an outlay of ₹1 crore.
As per the announcement, flying squads – a rapid response force for monitoring, enforcement, and compliance with environmental regulations – are also set to be increased. These squads, operated by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, conduct surprise inspections, prepare daily reports, and coordinate with relevant authorities to address pollution issues.
Residents, however, say that existing mechanisms should be strengthened and that there should be greater transparency.
K. Raju, a social and environmental activist, said, 'Flying squads come after complaints but they don't take enough samples from the right place at the right time.' Recalling an instance in Manali in 2023, he said, 'After taking samples, they left, but the noxious smell persisted for weeks after. Moreover, there was no report given to the complainant about the incident.'
Another initiative – for the first time under the World Bank Project, TN‑SHORE – involves deploying interceptors in the riverine areas and conducting regular waste retrieval and recycling operations. This will be undertaken in Chennai on a pilot scale at a cost of ₹4 crore during 2025‑2026.
Charu Govindan of the Voice of People said, 'The problem needs to be tackled at the root, which is source segregation. This is not happening.' Ms. Govindan said that the government machinery needs to enforce the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 properly. 'It is going to be almost a decade, but source segregation is very poor in the city. The government needs to take steps to increase awareness and maybe incentivise residents who do 100% source segregation,' she added.
According to Mr. Raju, sewage entering rivers is another major problem. 'As per the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019, there needs to be a buffer zone between the river and developments. But this is not being checked, and in several canals, sewage is being freely let into the river.'
Raghupathy Choodamani of the Perambur Neighbourhood Development Forum said that real-time monitoring of environmental issues, if done properly, could be useful, as there are many violators flouting the norms. He pointed out, 'One restaurant in Perambur operates loud machines at night-time, so noise pollution is a factor.'
'Instead of putting more resources into monitoring, the government should spend more on taking action and sustaining the actions,' said Ms. Govindan.