Kolkata: Air quality in Kolkata and its neighbourhood remained ‘poor’ on Monday morning with readings at most places in the city remaining between 250 and 300.
Experts attributed the findings not only to the bursting of firecrackers but also to weather conditions during this time of the year when small particulate matter remains in the air with the presence of fog and smoke.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) reading was 284 at Victoria Memorial and 262 at Fort William in Kolkata in the morning while it was 310 in Ghusuri in the neighbouring Howrah district.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’. Meanwhile, the window for bursting firecrackers from 8 pm to 10 pm on Sunday night as notified by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board was flouted with more than 70 per cent complaints of loud noise coming to the control room of the Board after 10 pm.
“We received 41 complaints of noise level violation and 70 per cent came after 10 pm,” a WBPCB official said.
The drone surveillance to keep a tab on the noise and air quality, particularly in and around the city hospitals on Sunday night also yielded good results with interventions being made with the help of police at a number of places. “Strong action was taken as per law after one of our drones detected indiscriminate bursting of sound crackers well above permissible limit from a highrise at Sambhunath Pandit street in south Kolkata,” the official added. Around 4 drones were used by the Board that operated in and around BC Roy Child Hospital, RG Kar Medical College, Calcutta Medical College, Sambhunath Pandit Hospital, SSKM Hospital etc.
Senior officials of WBPCB, including chairman Kalyan Rudra and member secretary Rajesh Kumar were present at the command and control centre of the Board till late on Sunday night. Environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh however termed the move of noise level measurement through drones as unscientific.
“As per Supreme Court order, firecrackers formulation only at 4 metre distance is permissible from the bursting point which is impossible with the use of drones,” Ghosh said.