After Kolkata’s air quality remained worse than Delhi’s for seven consecutive days, environmentalists urged authorities to install more automatic air quality monitoring stations in densely populated and traffic-heavy areas to ensure accurate, real-time pollution data
Pedestrians walk across Howrah Bridge on a winter morning amid high AQI levels on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
After Kolkata’s air pollution level surged past that of Delhi for the past seven days in a row, environmentalists and experts have called for a wider network of automatic air quality monitoring stations, news agency IANS reported. Experts and environmentalists suggested monitoring stations should be functional in the densely populated and traffic-heavy areas to capture a more accurate picture of the city’s air quality.
Green technologist and environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh said that Kolkata needed at least 20 automatic air quality monitoring stations across the metropolitan area to obtain reliable, real-time data.
“The seven automatic air quality monitoring stations that we have here were not set up in proper places. We need such stations in densely populated areas and highly congested places such as Moulali and Shyambazar,” Ghosh emphasised.
“In the absence of automatic stations, manual machines are used to get data from these areas. But we need automatic stations so that real-time data is received. This will give us the real picture of the city’s air quality,” he added.
Kolkata's AQI in 'hazardous' category
Kolkata recorded higher pollution levels than Delhi between December 6 and 11. On December 11, at 6.04 p.m., the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) touched a hazardous 439, while Delhi’s highest AQI that day was 345 at midnight, reported IANS.
During the 24-hour period from midnight on December 10 to midnight on December 11, Kolkata’s lowest AQI was recorded at 3.04 p.m. at 207, while Delhi logged its lowest AQI of the day at 4.04 p.m. at 169.
Furthermore, after 11 pm on December 11, Kolkata’s AQI shot up sharply, reaching 558. The PM10 levels stood at 239 units against a permissible limit of 100 units, while PM2.5 levels were recorded at 188 units, well above the permissible limit of 60 units, IANS reported.
In response to the worsening situation, Paschimbanga Vigyan Mancha, also known as the West Bengal Science Forum, expressed concern and appealed to the State Pollution Control Board and the departments of Health, Labour, and Child Welfare to take immediate steps to curb pollution.
The forum, while releasing a statement, highlighted, “We have observed that the level of air pollution in Kolkata has reached an alarming state, which is extremely harmful to health. In this situation, the West Bengal Science Forum demands that the State Pollution Control Board immediately issue necessary guidelines for the public."
“The Pollution Control Board and Health Department should develop necessary joint measures regarding public health. The Labour Department should take necessary steps concerning working people who work outdoors. The government should give utmost importance to the health of children, adolescents, women, and the elderly,” the forum added.
(With inputs from IANS)
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