The Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) on Friday hosted a talk show at the Capital Convention Centre, Kohima, to observe the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies 2025 under the National Clean Air Program. The event was held on the theme ”The Air We Share: Bridging Policy and Public Action.”
Delivering the keynote address, Er Aghali A Swu, Senior Environmental Engineer, NPCB, said the observance served as “a vital reminder of our shared responsibility to ensure access to clean air, which is a basic human right and an essential component of a healthy and sustainable environment.”
She noted that the United Nations General Assembly established the observance in 2019 to raise awareness, encourage action, and promote international cooperation to combat air pollution.
On this year’s global theme, ”Racing for Air,” Swu described it as “a clarion call for urgency,” stressing that clean air is “not a luxury but a necessity.” She warned that air pollution remains “one of the most pressing environmental health risks of our time and the world’s largest environmental killer,” with consequences ranging from human health to climate change, agriculture, and economic productivity.
Swu further informed that under the National Air Monitoring Programme, the NPCB has set up four manual monitoring stations and one Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station in Kohima. Data since 2010, she said, revealed that Kohima has failed to meet the national ambient air quality standards of 60 micrograms per cubic meter. She added that both Kohima and Dimapur were listed as “non-attainment cities” by the Central Pollution Control Board for failing to meet the standards for five consecutive years from 2011 to 2015.
With the launch of the National Clean Air Programme in 2019, she said, multiple stakeholders are implementing action plans for Dimapur and Kohima. However, she reminded that “achieving clean air is not solely the responsibility of the government or institutions but a shared responsibility that rests on each one of us.”
The panel discussion that followed, themed ”The Air We Share: Bridging Policy & Public Action,” featured B Henok Buchem, NCS, Deputy Commissioner Kohima; Krodi Rhetso, NPS, Superintendent of Police Kohima; Hukato K Chishi, IFS, Member Secretary, NPCB; Dr Kezholenu Sakhrie, MD (Respiratory Medicine); and Aningle, a BA 3rd Semester student of Oriental College, Kohima. The discussion was moderated by Rongsenben Longkumer, Junior Scientific Assistant, NPCB.
A recurring theme among panelists was the call for stronger collaboration between government agencies, civil society organizations, and the general public to bring about tangible change and ensure meaningful progress in the fight against air pollution.
