Lagatar24 Desk
Kolkata, Dec.7: Kolkata’s air quality has improved by 80-90% after Cyclone Jawad-induced rain lashed the city in the last few days, according to pollution control board authorities and environmentalists.
According to statistics released by the Central Pollution Control Board, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 20 (good) at Victoria Memorial, 43 (good) at Ballygunge, 33 (good) at Rabindra Sarobar, and 51 (satisfactory) at Rabindra Bharati University at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
At 9 a.m. on December 3, it was 185 (moderate) at Victoria Memorial, 212 (poor) at Ballygunge, 163 (moderate) at Rabindra Sarobar, and 307 (very poor) at Rabindra Bharati University, according to the report.
Environmentalist S M Ghosh in this regard said,”A maximum of 90 per cent and a minimum of 80 per cent improvement in the AQI of Kolkata was reported after the cyclone-induced rain lashed the city. This was a record low for the city in the month of December in the last 40 years.”
Chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), Kalyan Rudra, said the improvement in the AQI was very encouraging, and air pollution was undoubtedly one of the lowest, with the unseasonal rain playing a role.
He, on the other hand, claimed that four decades ago, there was no way to measure real-time air quality.
According to the WBPCB, the average PM 2.5 level was 19 mg per cubic metre, which is one of the lowest in the city’s history of air pollution.
The AQI was 40 at Ghusuri, Howrah, which regularly records high air pollution due to the presence of multiple foundries that process waste metals (good).
On December 6, 2018, the AQI at Victoria Memorial monitoring station was 254, and 175 in 2019.
