Kolkata: The air quality in Kolkata worsened on New Year’s Day, mainly due to the bursting of firecrackers at midnight, an official of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) said. Immediately after the midnight celebrations, the air quality index (PM 2.5) turned 250 in some southern and northern parts of the city, with smog reminiscent of Kali Puja night.
However, it dipped slightly on Monday (January 1) morning but some places such as Ballygunge and Jadavpur still experienced poor quality air of AQI 281 till 1 pm, the official said.
Air monitoring stations at Victoria Memorial recorded marginally better AQI at 199, followed by 161 at Rabindra Sarobar and 152 at Bidhannagar, he said.
While an AQI of 200 and above is classified as ‘poor’, the readings between 100 and 199 are categorised as ‘moderate’, both causing breathing discomfort to people with lung and heart diseases.
Bursting of firecrackers coupled with particulate matters hanging in the air in winter, plus more number of cars hitting the roads in stretches such as EM Bypass, JL Nehru Road, Sarat Bose Road and Sector V compounded the situation for a few hours, he said.
Aided by breezy and sunny weather conditions, the average AQI levels came down to around 170 by 12 pm on Monday, he added.
Environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh said the AQI in the city was still better than last year’s levels.
Exactly a year ago, the AQI was recorded at 314 at Bidhannagar, 319 at Rabindra Bharati University, 303 at Victoria Memorial and 269 at Ballygunge.
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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.
