4 out of 17 rivers in state safe for bathing: Centre
kolkata: Acknowledging the efforts of the state government in curbing river pollution, the Centre has declared 4 out of 17 major polluting rivers in Bengal fit for bathing.
The Union government has communicated to the Chairman of West Bengal Pollution Control Board regarding the significant improvement in water quality of these four rivers and has stated that they are fit for bathing. The four rivers, which have witnessed a major improvement in the reduction of pollution, are Mayurakshi (flows through Birbhum), Korola (which flows through Jalpaiguri), Silabati (flows through Purulia, Bankura
and West Midnapore) and
Kaljani (flows through Alipirduar.) There are 300 such grossly polluting rivers across the country.
"Interestingly, the pollution of river Ganga has also witnessed a significant improvement with dissolved oxygen and the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) improving to a great extent. However, reducing coliform bacteria still poses a major challenge and the WBPCB is taking all possible measures, and in the next few months, we are expecting tangible improvement in this parameter too,"WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra said.
The Ganga, which was in stage III in terms of pollution load, has advanced to stage V, which has been a major achievement for the state.
The WBPCB has regular water quality monitoring facilities in 104 places in the state.
The WBPCB claimed that the annual level of ultrafine pollutant, PM2.5, in Kolkata in 2019 was 57 which is much lower than 84 micrograms,
the measurement cited in a recent report that found the city to be the second worst in the world in PM2.5 pollution that year.
According to the international study, Air Quality and Health in Cities: A State of Global Air Report, published recently by the US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), only Delhi had a higher annual PM2.5 level than Kolkata in 2019 (110 micrograms) among the 103 most populous cities covered by the study. The national safe limit is 40 micrograms PM2.5 is an important marker of pollution since the ultrafine particles enter deep into the lungs and trigger a range of diseases, including fatal ones.
