Baddi: The ‘unprecedented’ air and water pollution in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalgarh area has been in news ever since the region emerged as a major industrial hub. The area has been identified as a pollution hot spot even by the Ministry of Environment and Central Pollution Control Board. However, there is little awareness within and outside the state of Himachal Pradesh about the actual extent of industrial pollution in this area and the appalling impacts on the local environment. While the Sarsa river, a tributary of the Sutlej, is choked with effluents, dust and bad odour due to chemical leaks have become a nuisance across the industrial area.
A local environment action group based in Nalagarh, has now decided to take a lead on this with 
the help of an environmental activist from Tamil Nadu. Shweta Narayan. Narayan who has been running a campaign against pollution in industrial areas in Tamil Nadu under the banner of Community Environmental Monitoring Campaign, has evolved several simple methods by which communities affected by pollution can monitor and document the air, dust and water pollution levels in their areas. “People living next to polluted facilities are much more aware about pollution and do not need any educational degrees to identify when pollution levels are excessive. Documenting their common sense experiences in a scientific manner can provide the best evidence of pollution which cannot be refuted by Pollution Control Board and other agencies” says Narayan.Read Full Story
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