Last week, Kolkata surpassed New Delhi and had temporarily become the most polluted metro in the country. There was no significant improvement in the air quality in Delhi but the situation in the eastern metropolis had deteriorated acutely. Moving beyond the metros, cities like Patna, Varanasi and Kanpur are choking due to high levels of air pollution.
As of Monday afternoon, Patna was the most polluted city in the country with the average PM 2.5 count crossing 400 and marked ‘severe’ in the National Air Quality Index. The air quality in Varanasi and Kanpur was marked ‘very poor’ with PM 2.5 level ranging around 368 and 344 respectively while Kolkata recorded 338. This situation corroborates the warnings put out by the WHO earlier this year. The UN body had highlighted the extent of air pollution in cities other than the metros and analysed the disastrous impact pollution had on the health of people.
However, the wake-up call doesn’t seem to have been heeded by policymakers as Delhi and the National Capital Region are the only centres for all pollution control plans and strategies. Moreover, officials have harped on quick fixes instead of formulating comprehensive mechanisms to deal with the menace. It is well known that Northern India, particularly NCR, turns into a gas chamber during winter due to various reasons like vehicular and industrial emissions, stubble burning, construction debris, etc. But the causes differ from city to city: Kolkata mainly suffers from vehicular pollution and in Kanpur, industrial emissions, dust and soot are the major culprits.
While corrective action is an urgent need, a fragmented approach is not the solution. The Centre and the agencies responsible should work closely with states and local urban administrations to identify the main causes of pollution, devise a concrete roadmap and follow it up with effective implementation. And, this should be done as fast as possible, as the lives of our citizens are at stake.