Jharkhand readies plan to save Ranchi from Delhi-like air

The Jharkhand government has come out with a new master plan to save the state capital from choking on a Delhi-like air, officials said on Monday.

The Jharkhand government has come out with a new master plan to save the state capital from choking on a Delhi-like air, officials said on Monday.

However, environmentalists expressed concern that Ranchi air already had carbon particles dangerously above the permissible levels. They said Ranchi air showed 9,000 nanograms of carbon particles per day against the permission range of 600 to 1,500 nanograms due to vehicular pollutions and concretization.

The state government’s master plan, which recently got the cabinet nod, restricts construction of buildings within a 20 metre periphery of Ranchi’s three dams--Kanke, Dhurwa and Rukka and 10-15 metre around river and natural drains. The plan also reserves 15 metres area on both sides of the existing ring road and 10 metres of the inner circular road as ‘green belt.’

State municipal administration director Amit Kumar said, “Our new plan should focus on sustainable development. So, we have given special attention on environmental aspect of Ranchi master plan.”

Kumar said that Ranchi would not face Delhi-like problem, if the new master plan was implemented properly. The Delhi government has proposed an ‘oddeven’ number formula for cars, which would ply on alternate days from January 1.

Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has already initiated a mission to revive and renovate the ponds in the city. “The city has around 40 ponds. Of which, we will take up 20 ponds in first phase. Detailed project report of four are already prepared,” said Ranchi deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya. Revival of ponds are expected to balance the city temperature, which reaches by 45 degree Celsius during summer, he said.

Environmental expert Nitish Priyadarshi said that pollution on road had increased by 35 % and noise pollution by 29% since 2001, which was a cause of concern.

President of the Jharkhand chapter of the Indian Medical Association AK Singh said there has been over 15% rise in the number of Tuberculosis and Asthma patients across the state due to pollution.

An official of Feedback Infrastructure Services, which prepared the master plan for Ranchi city, said, “With rising number AC-vehicles in the city, heat on roads have increased manifold. Concretization of roads and buildings has also added more heat. In a bid to reduce impact of heat and ecological balance, we have reserved certain areas near dams, rivers, natural drains and other water bodies. The initiative will also help to mitigate water crisis.”