The Lok Ayukta of Andhra Pradesh has appointed a single-member commission to conduct a probe into the pollution caused by the Visakhapatnam Port, following a petition filed by Chaitanya Sravanthi, a service organisation, its president Shirin Rehaman informed on Saturday.
The single-member commission has to visit Visakhapatnam for the inquiry and submit its report by December 24, Dr. Shirin Rehaman said at a press conference. Chaitanya Sravanthi organised a siege port programme in the past as part of its agitation against pollution caused by the port. She alleged that several residents of old city, adjacent to the port, had died due to pollution and hundreds were suffering with pollution-related diseases.
While the national ambient air quality specified that pollution level could be up to 60 micrograms for a micro cube of air, it was between 89 and 119 and was increasing every year. AU Professor S. Bala Prasad was present.
