Bengal’s ‘airpocalypse’ no better than northern states

Urban areas in West Bengal are chocking under severe air pollution as much as any town or city in the northern part of the country.

KOLKATA: Urban areas in West Bengal are chocking under severe air pollution as much as any town or city in the northern part of the country.

The Particulate Matter 10 (PM) level in 15 major urban centres of the state was worse than the national average of 60 μg/m3 (microgram per cubic metre), according to a recent report by the environmental NGO Greenpeace.With air quality of 124 μg/m3, Kolkata had the PM 10 level twice the national average and six times more than the WHO annual standards of 20 μg/m3.

Ironically, Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee rubbished a US Consulate’s recent report that found the PM 2.5 levels in Park Street worst in the world. Chatterjee has claimed that the eastern metropolis was safer than Delhi.

“We found annual average of PM 10 levels for 15 cities above the annual average standard 60 μg/m3 as prescribed by the National Air Ambivalent Quality Standards, indicating a health emergency in the state. There are about 68 lakh children under 5 years of age living with air quality worse than the national average,” said Harshit Sharma, Greenpeace India Research Campaigner.

The report analysed PM 10 annual average in 280 cities in India where 63 crore people or 53 per cent of the country’s total population reside. It found that 55 crore people live in areas exceeding national standards of PM 10  level. Delhi remains the most polluted city with 290 μg/m3 of PM 10 levels. It was followed by Faridabad, Bhiwadi and Patna with annual average of 272 μg/m3, 262 μg/m3 and 261 μg/m3. As many as 4.7 crore children under the age of five years live in areas where PM 10 levels exceeded the CPCB annual limits, the report found.