City’s air quality deteriorates, noise levels spike on Kali Puja night

Kolkata: The city’s air quality deteriorated sharply and noise levels soared on Kali Puja, Diwali night, indicating that firecrackers were burst far beyond the permissible hours of 8 pm to 10 pm, in violation of West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) and police guidelines.

Data from the state PCB revealed that in several parts of Kolkata, the Air Quality Index (AQI) shot above 300 — the ‘very poor’ category — around midnight, while in most areas it hovered between 201 and 300, under the ‘poor’ bracket.

In Ballygunge, the AQI, which was 137 at 8 pm, spiked to 320 at midnight and stayed above 300 till 2 am on Tuesday. In Lake Town, it rose from 142 to 307 over the same period, while at Lady Brabourne College, it jumped from 123 to 313.

At Bethune College, the AQI climbed to 255 from 102; at Jadavpur, it rose to 238 from 91; while in Behala, it reached 200 at 1 am, up from 77 at 8 pm. At Urbana Housing Complex near Anandapur, EM Bypass, the AQI peaked at 212 at 1 am, rising from 79 earlier in the evening. At Avidipta Housing on EM Bypass, it increased from 94 to 231 by midnight.

An AQI between 0–50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.

Noise pollution too reached alarming levels. The WBPCB’s control room, which functioned till midnight, received 47 complaints of sound limit violations — with nearly 30 lodged between 10 pm and midnight — showing that the two-hour relaxation for green crackers was openly flouted.

“The maximum number of complaints came from Dhakuria, Rashbehari, Salt Lake, Rajarhat, Baranagar, Baguiati, and Lake Town,” said a senior WBPCB official.

“The two-hour window ended at 10 pm on Monday. Police can take action, including arrests or seizure of crackers, if they are burst today (Tuesday),” the official added.

“The directive limiting firecracker use between 8 pm and 10 pm was blatantly violated across the city. From 10 pm till 3 am, crackers were burst at will, pushing both air and sound pollution levels to alarming levels,” said environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh, adding that the situation in Howrah appeared even worse and could worsen further during post-Kali Puja celebrations.