Growing dust pollution has emerged as a serious health hazard in the city besides subjecting the citizens to a lot of inconvenience. A toxic haze formed by dust particles and vehicular emissions can be seen looming over the atmosphere over a long time across the city’s roads and streets, and even residential areas. Periodical monitoring of the city’s ambient air quality by the Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) has also been revealing a high presence of both respirable particulate matter (RPM) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air, often in excess of the permissible limits. The permissible limits for SPM and RPM are 200 micrograms per metre cubic and 100 micrograms per metre cubic respectively. Degradation of the city hills leading to accumulation of loose soil on the roads following rain, the boom in construction activities and the failure on the part of the district administration and municipal authorities to enforce the norms meant for checking dust pollution and growing vehicular movement and emission have combined to worsen the city’s dust pollution. A PCBA source, while terming the trend of dust pollution as worrying, said that dust pollution normally shows a rising trend during winter due to less rainfall to clean the atmosphere. “From our ambient air quality checks, the period from November to March shows the higher presence of SPM and RPM in the air,” he said. This, however, does not mean that the rainy season brings in any succour for the harrowed citizens. In many areas of Guwahati, rains are invariably followed by severe pollution, as rains cause accumulation of loose soil of the hills on the roads and once the water dries up, the slush gradually transforms into dust, enveloping the atmosphere for a prolonged period. Besides monitoring, the PCBA recommends measures to the offenders for reducing air pollution. “We ask the Guwahati Refinery to maintain fuel quality and also arrange free pollution check-ups for vehicles. For checking vehicular pollution, however, the administration and the Transport Department should display greater commitment,” the source said. The source rued that the government authorities were not giving much attention to implement a 21-point action plan recommended by the PCBA for reducing vehicular pollution in the city. The haphazard urbanisation process that cares little about maintaining even the basic norms of checking dust pollution during construction is another factor aggravating the situation. The ongoing real estate boom in the city, in fact, has pushed dust pollution to alarming levels. Illegal and unscientific earth-cutting in the hills and the transportation of earth on trucks without any cover have also been a major cause of the city’s dust pollution. Similarly, dumping of construction materials including sand, stones, cement, etc., in the open near construction sites without adequate cover is typical of any construction activity in the city – something that is aggravating the dust pollution.