Cement plants to monitor air quality

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests recently released the revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 2009. Applicable to both residential and industrial areas, the new standards include limits for cement plants in India. They are required to monitor ambient air quality and stack emissions on their premises. The exact location of ambient air quality monitoring stations and the sampling ports in the stacks will be decided by the concerned cement plants in consultation with the respective State Pollution Control Board. Contact: Ministry of Environment and Forests. Tel: 011-2436 1669. Website: www.envfor.nic.in