Kolkata: Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Firhad Hakim, on Tuesday, said that due to efforts of the civic body, the city now features in the third position in the list of cities in India that have managed to significantly reduce air pollution.
It was learnt that in 2019, Kolkata was identified as one of the top 10 most polluted cities by the National Clean Air Program (NCAP). There were targets given to each of the cities for air pollution reduction. The Mayor said that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change report has now said that KMC has been able to achieve 75 per cent of the target given to Kolkata.
Many other polluted metro cities have failed to achieve even 25 per cent of the target that KMC has accomplished.
The Mayor, through a video message, said after much effort, KMC has been able to prove that air quality can be improved. He said among the 131 most polluted cities in India, Kolkata was in the first 20. Hakim mentioned that the pollution could be reduced with the help of Professor Abhijit Chatterjee of the Bose Institute. “Under his guidance, KMC adopted several measures such as taking stringent and immediate action for effective solid waste management, phasing out old polluting vehicles, increasing the number of electric vehicles and surveillance over polluting industries in Kolkata. The civic body has been able to meet its 75 per cent target in reducing air pollution,” he said.
The Mayor pointed out that there has been a 40 per cent reduction in air pollution in the city. “With Professor Chatterjee’s policy, we are pursuing our mission of ensuring clean air in the city. We began this mission in 2021-22 and now there has been 40 per cent reduction in air pollution. Kolkata is now in the third position in India-wise list in air quality improvement.
KMC’s Environment department and Parks and Squares department has achieved this in a joint effort.
I thank the Kolkata citizens and would urge them for further cooperation. Roads, water and lighting issues will be there but priority is clean air,” he said.