Air quality measuring devices that can transmit real-time data to a control room are being set up in all three action areas of New Town, a senior official of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) said.
While one set of ambient air quality devices will be installed in areas where construction work and real estate projects are on, the other set will be placed in areas where construction activity is over.
Parts of New Town have a lot of construction activity going on with housing complexes, standalone residential buildings, commercial buildings and public infrastructure being built.
The NKDA official said the first set of air quality measuring devices will be set up primarily in action areas II and III, where a lot of construction activity was on.
The other set will be placed at several crossings along Major Arterial Road in Action Area I, which has a comparatively lower number of under-construction buildings, the official said.
The devices will be able to measure both PM2.5 and PM10, among other pollutants.
PM2.5 is particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in size, while PM10 is particulate matter less than 10 microns in size. PM2.5 can reach the deepest layers of the lungs and cause serious ailments.
“The dust rising from construction and demolition sites are soil, sand,
cement and other particles. They have a high concentration of calcium, iron and silicon, all of which are toxic. They are harmful to breathe in,” said Kalyan Rudra, chairperson of the state pollution board.
A senior NKDA official said the data collected from the monitors, of which five are being set up in the first phase, will be collected at the NKDA control room.
“We will collect and analyse the data to find out how much the construction activity is affecting the air pollution levels in New Town, particularly in the areas with ongoing construction activity,” the official said.
NKDA norms specify that all construction sites must be covered to avoid the spread of dust particles in the air. All construction material like sand, stone chips, sacks of cement and work sites where marble is cut should be covered. The wheels of trucks leaving such sites must be washed so that the dust is cleaned and does not spread, the norms say.
However, the guidelines are often flouted.
In New Town’s BC Block The Telegraph spotted several buildings on Wednesday that had no dust covers. Trucks regularly ply throughout the township kicking up plumes of dust.
The five devices should be operational in a couple of months, the official said.
