Less than eight months after Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged that the biggest contributor to Guwahati’s floods during the monsoon months is rampant earth-cutting in the adjoining hills inside Meghalaya, the two neighbouring states are now headed for a fresh row, this one over dangerous pollution levels at Byrnihat, an industrial town that stands on both sides of the boundary close to Guwahati. It was only recently that a Swiss company called IQAir released its annual World Air Quality Report for 2024, in which Byrnihat had reportedly featured as “the most polluted city in the world.” It was only in January this year that another report, this one prepared by a Helsinki-based organisation called Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, had ranked Byrnihat the most polluted city in India, based on monthly average PM2.5 levels. The Swiss company, in its report, said that the annual average PM2.5 concentration in Byrnihat was 128.2 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³), which is reportedly many times more than the World Health Organisation’s annual air quality guideline of 5 µg/m³. Going by the report, the high level of pollution at Byrnihat has been causing severe health issues for the residents of the area. Following this, there have been media reports saying that the incidence of cancer and tuberculosis has been rising in and around Byrnihat. Almost immediately after this report was carried by the media, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma placed a suo moto statement in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly that air quality in the Meghalaya part of Byrnihat has been found to be “satisfactory” by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), adding that the poor quality of air in the Byrnihat area “may be attributed to industrial and other activities along the Assam side.” Sangma has also gone on record in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly as saying that the Byrnihat Industrial Area inside Assam, which runs along the Byrnihat town of Meghalaya, has been designated as a Critically Polluted Area (CPA) by the Central Pollution Control Board. The positive side of the story is that the Meghalaya Chief Minister has proposed a joint survey of the situation between Meghalaya and Assam, one that would help create a situation of cooperation instead of the two neighbouring states opening up another front of interstate dispute. Important to note, while the long-pending interstate boundary dispute between Meghalaya and Assam is on the path of being amicably resolved through mutual agreement between the two states, the allegation that Meghalaya is responsible for the increasing urban floods in Guwahati is partially correct. Rampant earth-cutting in the hills inside Meghalaya along the interstate border between Khanapara and Byrnihat is there for everybody and anybody to see.