Kolkata's air quality improves during December, says WBPCB

West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) on Monday said there are signs of improvement in the city's air quality during December so far, in comparison to same month in the last three-four years as measures have been taken to control the dust pollution.

At around 11 am on Monday, the Air Quality Index was at 100 at Science City in eastern part of the city and 95 at Jadavpur in the south, a senior WBPCB official said, adding that these figures are "satisfactory".

He also said the air quality was "moderate" at Eden Gardens (163) and Victoria Memorial (123) area in central part of the city.

"The AQI in these areas during this time had never gone below the 200 mark in the last three-four years. We have intensified the use of sprinklers at construction sites to contain the dust pollution. This has led to an improvement in air quality," he said.

At Baranagar-Dunlop crossing in the northern part of the city, where construction activities are going on, the AQI stood at 179 which is again "better than that of last two years", he said.

In Ghusuri area of Howrah city, where AQI had reached 400, it went down to 290 on Monday, the official said.

"It is a cumulative effect of measures being taken by the WBPCB over last 12 days. Apart from using water sprinklers at construction sites, burning of solid waste in the open air was banned and coke-based ovens were replaced with LPG cylinders," he said.

Asked about WBPCB's claims, environmentalist Subhas Dutta said that the use of water sprinklers in construction sites "can't contain air pollution in winter" and there can be areas where "no water sprinklers were used".

Dutta alleged that the board has been collating data for submitting to the National Green Tribunal to show "how serious they are to contain air pollution".