KMC to draw up blueprint for curbing pollution in city

kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will come up with a blueprint to curb pollution in the city.

A total of Rs 115 crore has been approved in the first phase for this purpose. Steps will be taken to replace or upgrade the existing old vehicles in the fleet of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) and Parks & Gardens department and reduce the pollution of the crematoriums. Precautionary measures will be taken to keep a check on pollution during construction activities etc.

"All the concerned departments of the KMC like SWM, Parks & Gardens, Roads, Civil, Building and Electricity have been asked to suggest measures on what can be done to check pollution. Director General of the Environment department will act as the nodal officer. A meeting will soon be held after the concerned departments come up with their respective view points," Swapan Samaddar, Member Board of Administrators, KMC in-charge of Environment wing of the civic body said.

The steps will be taken in liaison with the state Transport department. The Chairman of the Board of Administrators KMC Firhad Hakim, being the state Transport minister, will play an important role in taking all the steps in association with the Transport department. Hakim recently held a meeting with all concerned departments to set the ball rolling in the initiative towards minimum pollution in the city.

"We have already advertised for recruitment of a pollution expert whose advice will be of utmost importance in our endeavour," Samaddar added. An important aspect of the initiative will be assessing the daily volume of vehicle movement in the city and the amount of pollution caused by the emission of gas from them. Out of the total amount of Rs 115 crore, Rs 87 crore has been earmarked for SWM department, Rs 12 crore for Roads department, Rs 8 crore for Electricity and Rs 3 crore for Parks & Gardens.