State Pollution Control Board to conduct survey to study air quality of city

The state Pollution Control Board (PCB) will conduct a survey to find out the quality of air in the city.

It has engaged the National Environment Research Institute (NERI) to do the survey. The agency will take two months to complete the survey. As the air quality level fluctuates in the city, the agency has been given sufficient time to conduct a comprehensive study. This is for the first time when such a comprehensive study is being carried out.

The quality of air in the city worsens during winter. People often complain of burning sensations in the eyes particularly in the evenings and many are found to be suffering from breathing trouble. The worst sufferers are the elderly people and children. During monsoon, the situation gets better as the quality of air gets improved. "As the quality fluctuates, it is important to study the quality of air in every season. Once completed, the report will be of much use to understand the quality of air in the city that varies from season to season," said Kalyan Rudra, chairman PCB.

There is a general misconception that only vehicles that flout emission norms pollute the environment. Construction of buildings, roadside eateries, suspended dust particles and even the roadside shops that iron clothes pollute the environment. The study will identity the factors that pollute environment at source. There are 19 centres to monitor air quality in the city and six in Howrah.

Meanwhile, the PCB has decided to felicitate Kamal Chakraborty and Pratul Mukhopadhyay on June 5 during the Environment Day celebration. Chakraborty has been working in Bandowan block in Purulia to preserve environment while Mukhopadhyay has been fighting to preserve environment for many years. He raised his voice when the farmland was acquired in Singur to set up an automobile factory and took part in many meetings organised by the Trinamool Congress. He had also raised his voice against some polluting factories in Dum Dum in the early 1990s.

PCB has started campaigning for solar power and has started running its own office in Salt Lake with it. There are 100 schools and another 100 health centres that are being run by solar power. It distributed solar lamps among the girls staying in the destitute homes. Meanwhile, the same would be given to tribal boys on June 5.

PCB has also chalked out an elaborate plan worth Rs 50 crore to set up a garden at the abandoned dumping site at Dhapa. The dumping ground was set up by the British over a century ago. The project has been funded by the World Bank. Once completed, the green garden will become an attractive tourist site in Kolkata.