‘State has implemented several measures to fight pollution’

Kolkata: In a bid to combat pollution, the state government has implemented several measures to improve air quality levels in most polluted zones.

During the Assembly session on Friday, state environment minister Ghulam Rabbani on Friday informed the House that the state government has installed about 200 air quality monitoring systems across the state, especially in places the state considers as most polluted zones such as Kolkata, Howrah, Barrackpore, Durgapur, Asansol and Haldia.

Further, it was learnt that a ‘Paribesh app’ has been launched which can be downloaded from Playstore and used for monitoring the pollution levels. Citizens can also lodge complaints through the app which will be addressed by the Environment department. Students in schools and colleges can utilise the app, informed the minister

who shared that the state has also been conducting awareness campaigns in the educational institutions.

The minister also informed the House that about 1500 e-cycles will be distributed to police stations across the state.

A survey will be launched to determine which stations will receive these e-cycles. It also came to light that in a bid to combat pollution caused by plastic bags, cloth bag vending machines have been installed in major market zones, especially near Bidhan Market and at 8B Bus Stand. The MLAs were encouraged to install such machines in market areas in their respective constituencies.

The minister also highlighted that smog from Bihar and Jharkhand is a major factor for pollution in the state. To combat this, the state has carried out mass tree plantation in the border areas adjoining these two states.

It is believed that such a move will act as a smog blocker, improving the air quality in the border areas concerned in Bengal.