Transport dept signs MoU with IIT Kharagpur to check pollution

A survey to create the road map will be conducted and it will take around 6 months.

The experts from the IIT will identify the source and at the same time the volume of emission at different places in the two adjacent cities. At the same time they will suggest the steps that need to be taken to control the emission and to check the level of pollution.

The experts will obtain “both primary and secondary data” after studying the traffic movement in these two cities and prepare a “Vision Document”. At the same time they will be preparing the action plan implementing which, in phases, will help the state transport department to bring down the level of air-pollution.

It may be mentioned that various issues related to the level of air-pollution in Kolkata and Howrah were brought up in the National Green Tribunal and other Courts. 

The Courts have passed several directions to check the menace. The experts will also “evaluate the existing arrangement of testing of automobile exhaust emission”. They will also be recommending improvement measures of the technology of emission testing and the infrastructure needed for the same.

Meanwhile, an official of the State Transport department stated that at present there are around 115 emission testing centres in Kolkata and Howrah. 

Steps have been taken to ensure that the number of testing centres goes up. “The plan is to ensure that there should be a testing centre in every 3 sq km. The step has been taken so that an owner can get his or her vehicle tested without traveling much,” he said.