Shift to green fuel, effective implementation of pollution plans and a ban on waste burning are some of the recommendations by experts to improve Kolkata’s alarming air quality.
Environmentalists and government officials made these recommendations following the publication of the report Air Quality and Health in Cities by US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) on August 17.
According to the report, the PM2.5 level in Kolkata has consistently remained at least double the national safe limit and the global average over the past decade.
In 2019, the city was the second worst, after Delhi, among the 103 most populous cities in the world in terms of PM2.5 pollution. The average annual PM2.5 count was 17 times the WHO-set safe limit, says the report.
PM2.5 has the ability to penetrate deep into lungs and trigger multiple diseases, including fatal ones. The report says that about 99 people had “PM2.5 attributable deaths” per 100,000 people in Kolkata in 2019.
According to several recent studies vehicular emission, waste burning, road dust, construction and demolition, industries and burning of solid fuels are mainly responsible for the PM2.5 surge in the city. The PM2.5 count in Kolkata has risen from 64 to 84 micrograms between 2000 and 2019.
The Plural News Network spoke to Pallavi Pant of HEI, Anumita Roy Choudhury of Center for Science and Environment (CSE), Abhijeet Chatterjee of Bose Institute and some senior government officials to find out what the city should do to control its burgeoning air pollution level.
Pollution prescription
Multi-sector action: A stringent time-bound, multi-sector action plan is needed for targeted interventions at sources, particularly transportation, industries and waste disposal. Action on key sources like transportation and waste disposal has remained inadequate till now.
On-ground implementation: Kolkata has an air pollution action plan — it has been accepted by the Central Pollution Control Board and has also received nearly Rs 530 crore in the past three financial years. However, it is yet to be implemented on the ground.
Shift to e-vehicles and CNG: Vehicles need to be electrified, including all commercial vehicles, or run on natural gas like CNG. The city has about 100 electric buses and another 1,900 are on the way. There are still obstacles to bringing CNG to the city to run commercial vehicles. A handful of CNG buses have started already plying in Kolkata.
Scrap old vehicles: Vehicles older than 15 years, particularly commercial ones, are major sources of pollution. Despite a 2008 High Court order directing that they be scrapped, lakhs of old vehicles are still plying within greater Kolkata. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has recently passed a directive for all 15-year-old vehicles to be scrapped, but its implementation seems unlikely as almost 90 lakh vehicles are coming under the purview of the directive.
Strengthen public transport: The city once known for its public transport has slipped a few notches. All forms f public transport, including trams and water transport, need to be boosted and integrated with other forms of transport.
Zero tolerance for waste burning: Stopping waste burning is possible only if the waste could be segregated, recycled and disposed of scientifically.
Manage construction and demolition waste: Such waste is a major contributor to the PM2.5 mix but hardly gets due importance. It needs a recycling- and-disposal plan, preferably with a dedicated plant.
Replace solid fuel: This is another less prioritised area. The use of solid fuel like wood, petrol, diesel and kerosene need to be minimised in both domestic and commercial sectors, especially in roadside eateries. The State Pollution Control Board’s plan to replace coal-fired eateries with gas-fired ones has covered only a small segment of users.
Control industrial pollution: Kolkata has thousands of small industrial units — more than 7,000, according to a KMDA study a few years back. These are mostly in or around residential areas.
Graded Response Action Plan during emergencies: Even if all these measures are taken, meteorological factors will still push up pollution levels, particularly PM2.5 and PM10, in winter. That’s why the city, like Delhi, needs a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to counter emergency situations. Such a plan should be publicly shared and turned into a norm so that major pollution-enhancing activities could be stopped automatically.
