Kolkata: The air quality of Kolkata worsened on Monday morning after people celebrated Chhath Puja with firecrackers, officials said. Besides, with the onset of winter, the chill in the air led to foggy conditions, preventing particulate matters from dissipating further, they said. The city’s overall air quality index (AQI) was 128 at 1 pm, they said. The AQI was 151 at Dhakuria, 170 at Fort William, 107 at Jadavpur, 124 at Rabindra Sarobar and 162 at the Victoria Memorial area.
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An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, 401 and 450 ‘severe’ and above 450 ‘severe plus’.
From Friday to Sunday, the city’s AQI ranged between 85 and 110, officials said.
Environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh said though the situation at Rabindra Sarobar was not alarming as Chhath Puja was banned there, indiscriminate bursting of firecrackers in Ballygunj, Jadavpur, Patuli, Narkeldanga, Babughat and Princep Ghat took the toll on air quality. He said,
Since Sunday afternoon, firecrackers were used indiscriminately and it reached its peak in the morning hours of Monday. This aggravated the situation, which was reflected in the index.
An official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said devotees offered puja at 150 ghats along the banks of lakes and ponds in the city, besides the 18 ghats along the Hooghly river.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
