New Delhi: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently unveiled a report, where it has ranked Kolkata near the bottom among Indian cities with over a million people in terms of air pollution control for 2023-24. This report comes after slight improvement in the city’s pollution levels.
Kolkata has so far received Rs 846.25 crores since 2018-19 and has spent almost 80% of the money. The city saw about a 25% drop in the annual average of PM10, a key air pollutants. However, in 2023-24, PM10 levels were still 94 micrograms per cubic meter, which is more than 50% higher than the national safe limit of 60 micrograms.
The report, “Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024” (Clean Air Study 2024), ranked Kolkata 41st out of 46 cities for air pollution control. Among the big cities, Kolkata is just above Chennai. The rankings are based on the cities’ actions under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Kalyan Rudra, chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, said big cities like Kolkata face more challenges, and it’s not fair to use the same standards for all cities. For example, Kolkata is near the southern edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain and receives air pollution from other areas.
He also said Kolkata needs to get rid of highly polluting diesel vehicles to reduce air pollution. He mentioned that PM2.5, a more harmful pollutant, should be given more attention than PM10, which is currently the focus.
Abhijit Chatterjee, an air pollution expert with the Bose Institute and adviser to the National Clean Air Programme, added that cities need to identify the major sources of PM10 pollution and adjust the focus accordingly, rather than applying the same standards to all cities.
