The air pollution levels in Kolkata have turned out to be worse than that of New Delhi during the first two days of the current week, Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday (December 12), the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 307, which is considered “very poor”, as against the national capital’s figure of 218, which is in the “poor” category.
The difference in the air quality levels in the two cities increased on Tuesday (December 13). While the AQI for Kolkata was 314 or “very poor” on that day, the figure for New Delhi was 177 or “moderate”.
Environment activist and green technologist Somendra Mohan Ghosh said that Kolkata’s iconic Victoria Memorial Hall, a favourite place for morning walkers, is the worst affected.
“The AQI in this heritage zone is quite high. So the shine of heritage building’s marble is being affected. At the same time, the air quality in the zone is not safe in the morning and evening hours,” he said.
He said that it is unfortunate that the Makrana marble of this heritage structure in the city is getting exposed to air pollution. According to him, all concerned authorities, including the West Bengal Heritage Commission and the heritage wing of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, should take immediate steps on this count to save the iconic heritage structure.
Environmental experts feel that the pollution level increases during winter because of natural reasons when the polluting particles’ concentration increases in the air. However, activists like Ghosh feels that human negligence, like effecting the ban on polluting vehicles beyond a certain age and barring street-food vendors from using coal and kerosene gas ovens while cooking on the streets, among others, aggravates this menace.
**
The above article has been published from a wire source with minimal modifications to the headline and text.
Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidmh0dHBzOi8vd2VhdGhlci5jb20vZW4tSU4vaW5kaWEvcG9sbHV0aW9uL25ld3MvMjAyMi0xMi0xNS1rb2xrYXRhLWFpci1wb2xsdXRpb24td29yc2Vucy1hcWktdmVyeS1wb29yLXdvcnNlLXRoYW4tZGVsaGnSAQA?oc=5
