Urban air quality in most megacities has been found to be critical and

Kolkata Metropolitan City is no exception to this. An analysis of

ambient air quality in Kolkata was done by applying the Exceedance
Factor (EF) method, where the presence of listed pollutants‟ (RPM,
SPM, NO2, and SO2) annual average concentration are classified into
four different categories; namely critical, high, moderate, and low
pollution. Out of a total of 17 ambient air quality monitoring stations
operating in Kolkata, five fall under the critical category, and the
remaining 12 locations fall under the high category of NO2
concentration, while for RPM, four record critical, and 13 come under
the high pollution category. The causes towards the high
concentration of pollutants in the form of NO2 and RPM have been
identified in earlier studies as vehicular emission (51.4%), followed by
industrial sources (24.5%) and dust particles (21.1%). Later, a health
assessment was undertaken with a structured questionnaire at some
nearby dispensaries which fall under areas with different ambient air
pollution levels. Three dispensaries have been surveyed with 100
participants. It shows that respondents with respiratory diseases
(85.1%) have outnumbered waterborne diseases (14.9%) and include
acute respiratory infections (ARI) (60%), chronic obstructive
pulmonary diseases (COPD) (7.8%), upper track respiratory infection
(UTRI) (1.2%), Influenza (12.7%), and acid fast bacillus (AFB) (3.4%).
Although the pollution level has been recorded as critical, only 39.3%
of the respondents have felt that outdoor (air) pollution has affected
their health.

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 Kolkata, as of today, provides a mixture of opportunities and
problems. Environmental problems loom large over the city that raises
issues in sustainability. Rapid urban growth has affected the
population momentum and hence would prolong the unplanned
urbanization and industrialization for quite sometime. This has
resulted in acute air and noise pollution. Therefore, whereas the city
core is affected by air and noise pollution, the fringe areas are affected
by water contamination and frequent outbreak of epidemics. The
slums and squatters provide another act of problems encountered by
the city. Finally, as the city grapples to fit into the changing global
scenario, it must be realized that an emphasis of developing the
knowledge based skills and innovative character of the region must be
enhanced and must be known to the world. It has been realized that
Kolkata has the potentialities for knowledge- based development in the
post-industrial society, being the music and literacy capital of India.
Thus, only by following regional approach, which recognizes and
integrates the importance and potential contribution of the city‟s
knowledge base, including the informal sector of the economy, may
this mega-city progress. Local governments and other state
government agencies provide traditionally urban amenities or
infrastructures like water, sanitation, solid waste management and
roads. The demand for urban amenities is being fuelled by both
demographic pressure and rise in urban income. It is becoming
increasingly clear that these services have failed to cope up with the
rising demand and can significantly damper even the economic growth
prospects of the country. In response to these developments, there is a
growing concern regarding the paradoxical problem of inadequate
resources available for infrastructure investments, combined with the
inability of appropriate authorities to absorb any additional finance in
variable manner. This reflects the low level of equilibrium trap in most
of the in urban authorities trapped today, as evident by a low level of
resources for urban infrastructure resulting in low level of services,
leading to a low willingness of consumers to pay for these and hence
low recovery. The low cost recovery limits the rate of returns of these
investments and therefore, these are viewed as social investments. The
low returns also make it difficult to mobilize additional resources for
these critical investments.

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 According to Ansel Adams: “It is horrifying that we have to fight
our own government to save the environment”. Pollution is no more a
sensation today; it is one of the foregone outcomes of our civilization
that we have started paying heavily for. Pollution and cities are further
inter-related to a great extent in the sense that both have to live in non
escapable co-existence and may be the ultimatum of that so-called
coexistence can be well found in our beloved city-Kolkata. Kolkata has
been totally down with the overwhelming omnipresence of pollution
may it be air, water, gaseous, noise or odour! The world authorities
have already identified the city as one of the worst victims of present
day ecological disaster. Kolkata has distinctly earned the honour of
„city of functioning chaos‟ or „city of garbage‟. In 1956, WTO (World
Health Organization) has already rated Kolkata as one of „the dirtiest
cities in the world‟. Therefore, strict laws should be enforced for a
greener Kolkata and to feel the pinch of Kolkata‟s environmental
degradation, pollution rules are to be taken seriously as called for
clearing pollution from the very root. Alarming levels of air, water and
noise pollution, thus continues to plague the citizens of Kolkata, with
the authorities turning a blind eye to the problem, making Kolkata,
“the pollution capital of India”.
The situations in metropolises like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,
Delhi, Bangalore etc. is becoming worse year by year. Thus,
urbanization and its allied processes such as rapid industrialization,
energy production, commercialization and an increase in the number
of motorized vehicles have made a profound impact on the
environment of the metropolitan cities of India.

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 Kolkata even as the West Bengal Government is engaged in
frantic efforts to phase out old vehicles, green activities claim that
Kolkata is fast heading towards disaster due to abnormally high air
pollution levels and needs a strong action plan to combat the menace.
A study released by the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE)- a
New Delhi –based organization, revealed that the annual average of
Kolkata‟s repairable suspended particulate matter exceeded the
national standards in 2007 by 1.4 times, and the trend is continuing.
The carcinogenic benzene levels in Kolkata were found in winter of
2006-2007 to be as high as 36 micrograms per cubic meter, while the
national draft ambient air standard proposed a limit of 5 gm/cubic mt.
as annual average. According to the World Bank statistics, the
pollution caused by diesel fuel (65%-vehicular population: 99%-
commercial vehicles are diesel run) to the city air was more than 2.7
times than Delhi and 2.5 times of that in Mumbai.
Thus, automobile emission is reportedly responsible for more
than half of the air pollution load in Kolkata. At Shyambazar in north
Kolkata and Behala Chowrasta in the south, SPM levels are 200pg/m3
and 224 pg/m3 respectively. An earlier study indicates that more than
1/3rd of all vehicles in Kolkata produce beyond permissible limit. The
highest polluting group is taxis of which more than 50% violate
emission norms. Trucks as group occupy the second place with 39.2%
violations. Violations in respect of private cars are 32.6% while the
same for mini bus, auto rickshaws and Government vehicles are of the
orders of 20%.

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 As a result of high level of air pollution in Kolkata, it has
upstaged Delhi as the air pollution capital of India, accounting per
more deaths (18 persons per one lakh people) due to lung cancer and
heart attack than Delhi (13 persons per one lakh people). Some 70% of
the people in the city of Kolkata suffer from respiratory disorders
caused by air pollution. Children mainly suffer from breathing
difficulties like asthma while elderly people are victims of lung cancer.

The air pollution level is increasing in pace with the rapid

increase in vehicular population and because of the ageing fleet of
buses, which need to be discarded. Other sources of air pollution
includes industrial emission in different manufacturing process, viz in
meteorological plants, chemical plants, refineries, thermal power
plants, mineral production and so on.

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 In general, the urban areas are subjected to air pollution to the
extent of about 60% total pollution load by automobile transport
system. Stressing on a few measures to battle air pollution, CSEC
(Centre of Science and Environment) study suggested that the vehicles
converted to cleaner LPG fuel. Other preventive measures involve area
planning, efficient engine design and grade of the fuel etc.

POLLUTION CONCENTRATION IN AMBIENT

AIR OF KOLKATA:

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 What Lord Byron said long ago, may become most timely
calculation to all Calcuttans: “Till taught by pain, men really know not
what good water‟s worth”. In Kolkata, every citizen has given the share
of 300 gallons of water per day, but half of this share is of polluted
one. The metropolitan region suffers from clean water and from
flooding, in periodic cycles, depending on the climax, topography and
health of the river Hooghly. The Hooghly, are tributary of the Ganges,
flows through the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, is the main source of
portable water, is highly polluted. The industrial and domestic
wastewater discharged into the river is the main source of pollution. It
was estimated that 1400 million liters of sewage and 200million liters
of industrial effluents were discharged everyday into the river. For
supply of portable water, in areas not within reach for the riverside
treatments plants, extraction of ground water is done through wells,
as municipal supply. Ground water is also drawn in large volume for
agriculture; such practice has resulted in depletion of water table and
arsenic contamination in tapped aquifer, thus rendering this source as
unsuitable for municipal water supply. Absence of sewage disposal
systems in the unplanned settlements caused pollution of streams and
rivers. According to the PCB, the quality of water at several places in
the Hooghly is far below acceptable standards. S per example, the
quality of water at Dakhineswar, were thousands of devotees bath
daily while the CPCB recommended that the number of calliform
bacteria should not be more than 500/100 mc for outdoor bathing,
figure stands at alarming 110,000 in Dakhineswar.

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 As a result of high level of damage in the quality of portable
water, the water scarcity is increasing day-by-day causing water
pollution. Use of untreated water is responsible for a large percentage
of waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid and hepatitis. It is
reported that 15 out of 1000 children born in the state die before the
age of 5 from diarrhea caused by drinking polluted water. Thus, the
success for sustainable water resource development depends on
abatement of pollution with participatory governance and education.
For water quality, determination sample collection points at 12
different locations of river Hooghly have been selected by W.B.P.C.B.
The PCB has also arranged water quality analysis for Subhas Sarovar,
Rabindra Saravar and some other selected water bodies in Kolkata.
Determination of water quality of different irrigational canals and
sewage canals is also envisaged.

HEALTH EFFECTS OF THE TOXIC INGREDIENTS OF

THE DRINKING WATER IN KOLKATA:

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 The Compendium of Environmental Statistics, released by the
Central Statistical Organization, states that noise levels in most
metros – even in the residential and the designated „silence zone‟- have
reached levels above the prescribed ambient noise standards.

NATIONAL AMBIENT STANDARDS:

Day Time (6.00 a.m to 9.00 p.m-15 hrs); Night Time (9.00
p.m to 6.00 p.m-9 hrs).
Noise pollution is highest in Kolkata, both during the day and
night. Noise levels in Kolkata‟s residential areas are much higher than
in other metros, i.e. in residential areas, while the CPCB has rescribed
an ambient noise standard of 55 Leqb B (A) during the day (between
6.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.), the noise level in Kolkata is 79 units, while in
Mumbai it is 70 units, Chennai 66 units, Bangalore 67 units.
A number of agencies and institutions have monitored noise
within Kolkata Metropolitan Area. This is presented in the table below:

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SUMMARY OF AMBIENT NOISE LEVELS AT TRAFFIC
INTERACTIONS BY ZONES:

The result of the studies conducted in Kolkata indicates that the

average ambient noise level in residential, commercial, industrial
zones as well as silence zone exceeded the prescribed limit both during
day and night. In the silence zone, the noise level reached as high as
79 db (A) and 65 db (A) during day and night as against the limit of 50
db (A) and 40 db (A). Thus from the data available, Kolkata is seen as
the noisiest city of the world.
Although no data is available to highlight the impact of high level
of noise on public health in Kolkata area, but information provided by
ENT specialist and psychiatrists indicate an upward level of cases
reporting hear loss, psychotic mental disorder, anxiety etc.

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 Kolkata During Festivals:-

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Some Polluted Areas Of Kolkata :-

Disposal of solid waste in Kolkata: (a) Taltala (b) Hatibagan (c) & (d) Park Street.

Wastage of water from the tap in Kolkata.

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KOLKATA POLLUTION ZONING:-

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Studied Area
The study has been conducted in Kolkata, the capital city of West
Bengal state in India. According to the Census of India (2011), Kolkata
had 4.5 million population, with the urban agglomeration, which
comprises the city and its suburbs, home to approximately 14.1
million people, which makes it the third most densely populated
metropolitan area in the country. The first count is for Kolkata City
(4.5 million), which is under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC),
while the second count (14.1 million) is for the Kolkata Metropolitan
Authority (KMA), which comprises the city (KMC) and its suburbs. The
city of Kolkata has been dubbed as one of the most unplanned and
polluted cities in the world . A study in comparison of air quality data
among four metropolitan areas in India indicates a higher pollution
level in Kolkata in comparison to Mumbai and Chennai, and is close to
Delhi . It has also been termed as the dusty city. Air pollution in
kolkata becomes acute during winter, when pollution ranges higher
than at other times . On the other hand, the worst-polluted traffic
intersections double the city's average pollutants during busy hours.

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 Sources of Air Pollution in Kolkata
Several factors cause air pollution in Kolkata and among them
the main factor is transportation , where the abundance of poorly-
maintained vehicles, use of petrol fuel, and poor controlling are
making transportation the major air polluting sector. Additionally,
there are three thermal power plants operating in and around Kolkata,
and some small-scale industries which also affects the air quality. An
analysis of different sources of air pollution in Kolkata has revealed
that motor vehicles are the leading contributor to air pollution (51.4%)
which is followed by industry (24.5%) and dust particles (21.1%),
respectively.
The vehicular pollution in Kolkata is attributed to a large number
of automobiles plying daily over only 6% available road space, causing
congestion which reduces the average vehicular speed and also results
in heavy vehicular emission. The number of vehicles has a growth of
about 2.00 times, numbering to 1.20 million in 2011 from 0.73 million
in 1996 .The vehicular population in Kolkata has increased at an
annual growth rate of 4%. Private cars have increased from 0.26
million in 2000 to 0.65 million in 2011, which indicates a 2.5 times
increase. The heavy concentration of private motor vehicles has been
one of the key reasons for congestion, increased travel times, pollution,
and accidents. In terms of available surface road length, Kolkata has
the least coverage, with about 1416 km, whereas the vehicular density
is one of the highest, nearing 823/km.

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 Air Quality Assessment
Data for the assessment of ambient air quality in Kolkata has
been obtained from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB),
the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and the Centre for
Science and Environment (CSE). The assessment of the monthly
average concentration of ambient air pollution in Kolkata has been
conducted with the recorded data (from Annual Report WBPCB,
2010–2011) against all 17 monitoring stations for each month and
comparing the average value with the given NAAQS. The assessment of
air pollution level has been conducted by applying the Exceedence
Factor (EF) method introduced by CPCB, which is broadly understood
as “the ratio of annual mean concentration of a pollutant with that of a
respective standard”.

Concentration and Trends of Ambient Air

Quality
The monthly average concentration of pollutants represents the
pollution variation for the entire year that the city may have in terms
of the pollutants presence for different months in the ambient air. The
concentration of pollutants recorded through the monitoring stations
monitoring stations for Kolkata City) gives the representative figure of
the city as a whole. The analysis has revealed that the monthly
average concentrations of pollutants in terms of NO2 and RPM were
recorded higher during the months of November and December in
2010 and January and February in 2011 with values 65.8 μg/m3,
78.9 μg/m3 and 94 μg/m3, 79.7 μg/m3 for NO2 and 127
μg/m3, 129 μg/m3 and 211 μg/m3, 172 μg/m3 for RP.

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 The trends in annual average concentration of SO2 have been
found lower than the NAAQS during all the monitoring years. For the
year 2010–2011, the recorded value of SO2 was 6.5 _g/m3, which was
much below the NAAQS, and even lower than the previous two years.
This indicated that a decreasing trend was prevailing in Kolkata for
SO2 concentration in the ambient air. The annual average
concentration of NO2 for all the monitoring years has been recorded to
be higher than the NAAQS. For the year 2010–2011, it was recorded at
56.5 _g/m3, which was above the NAAQS and much more than the
previous year, which was 45 _g/m3 in 2009–2010. This means that
there was an increasing trend prevailing in the region. The
concentration of RPM has also been showing an increasing trend, as it
was 88 _g/m3 for the year 2010–2011, which was higher than the
previous three years, with concentrations of 60 _g/m3 in 2009–2010,
67 _g/m3 in 2008–2009, and 84 in 2007–2008 respectively. The SPM
is also showing an increasing trend, but NAAQS has discontinued
recording the value from January 2011 onwards

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 The Environmental Protection Act 1983 is a major law for
regulatory control of noise level. Vehicular noise levels are prescribed
by Indian Standard (IS 3028) for different categories of vehicles.
In addition, provisions for abatement of noise pollution have been
made in Municipal Corporation Act, Motor Vehicle Act and Police Act
and Rules, in West Bengal. The application of Public Interest Litigation
Act by citizens seeking redress from the High Court and action taken
by WBPCB and Police Department during 1996 clearly showed that
noise level during normal and especially during festival period could
positively be controlled by enforcement authorities. Atmospheric
pollution in Kolkata has greatly increased since the early 1950‟s.
Factories, motor vehicles and thermal generating stations, which burn
coal, are primary causes of this pollution. In the hierarchy of controls,
pollution prevention and waste minimization are more desirable than
pollution control. Therefore, to achieve free and safe environment- it
needs a comprehensive programme involving the local bodies.

‘Kolkata Greens’- A Necessity:

India‟s Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore had said- “trees
are earth‟s endless effort that speak to the listening heavens”.
As urban development proceeds on the world stage let its journey proceed in
partnership with its green space.

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 1. The individual green assets (plants on terrace, terrace garden,
indoor plants, and private garden/lawns) must be encouraged
and enhanced in a large scale in the built up city area. Detailed
environmental policy must be formulated and implemented for
the household level.

2. The maintenance of parks and gardens should receive much

more attention from the citizens themselves. Apart from
residents, students from educational institutions in the
neighborhood may be truly encouraged to play a active role in
the maintenance of the green space.

3. Data of the number of trees felled and the location and reason
for doing so may be made available to all citizens on a regular
basis from a common platform like the media. This would make
them aware of the loss and inspire them to contribute for the
regeneration of the same.

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The concentration of RPM and NO2 in the ambient air has been found
to have violated the national standards and exceeded the NAAQS.
While interpreting the pollution concentration, most of the monitoring
stations have been found to fall under the critical and high pollution
categories. The pollution categories, thus, emerged have been used for
the selection of dispensaries to conduct the health survey. While
evaluating the responses (mainly patients with respiratory diseases
which share 85%) from the three surveyed dispensaries, it emerges
that people who reside in slums are found to be have a significant
share among the total participants. It may not be a sound
interpretation to say that those who are residing in slums are exposed
more to the pollution, which is why they experience a greater number
of diseases of respiratory origin. There may be some other causes
towards their susceptibility to the kind of diseases the study is
evaluating, and for that further exploration could be required. Along
with exposure; poor living conditions, less awareness towards avoiding
pollution sources, lack of knowledge about pollution, indoor cooking,
and poor resistance to air pollution could be some of the reasons that
make slum-dwellers susceptible to the pollution-induced diseases.
Cooking inside the living room has emerged as the major issue
practiced by those living in the slums of Kolkata as expressed in this
study. Although the study has not been framed to assess the
susceptibility of people to the indoor pollution, it could infer the level
of vulnerability the slum-dwellers are having while being exposed to
the indoor gases released due to domestic fuel exhaust. As the study
was made to assess the disease frequencies of respiratory origin at
dispensaries, it resulted in the following disease types, i.e., ARI, COPD,
Influenza, UTRI, bronchitis, asthma, AFB, etc. The cases with ARI
infection have emerged as the leading disease type. The study thus
carried out has talked about the cases and not included the control
group, which may be taken as a drawback. In the end, it would be
worthwhile to suggest introducing a comprehensive framework for
slum development with focuses on their health and habitation so that
they could be brought under mainstream city living, which may
further help in bringing sustainable urban development in Kolkata.

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 1. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7082
4/15/15_chapter%205%20urban%20structure%20of%20k
olkata%20city%20problems%20and%20prospects.pdf

2. https://www.google.com/search?q=air+pollution+index+of
+kolkata&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGx
pmfhu7hAhWwgUsFHcqEDG0Q_AUIDygC&biw=1360&bih=
576#imgrc=QMynZuuclLGZhM:

3. http://web.wbpcb.gov.in/html/downloads/noise_rep_kalip
uja_2004.pdf

4. https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/5/4/77/pdf

5.http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=12446
0

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