Sound, air pollution levels exceed limits in Kolkata as firecracker norms flouted

Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS) The people in Kolkata did not have any respite from the flouting of firecracker norms, due to which sound and air pollution levels exceeded permissible limits even on Wednesday.

The norms of maintaining sound decibel limits at 40 in silence zones and 45 in the thickly populated pockets in the city witnessed rampant violations. According to figures available till Wednesday morning, the sound decibel limits ranged between 58 and 75 throughout Tuesday night.

Similarly, the air pollution levels in different pockets of the city were also very high. As per the Air Quality Index data collected from different monitoring stations in the city, the AQI level at Victoria Memorial in the Maidan area, considered to be the lungs of Kolkata, was 259 by 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

Some other points in the city where the AQI level reached an alarming level were Jadavpur and Ballygunj, both in South Kolkata, with 204 and 169, respectively.

As per AQI parameters, the pollution levels both in Victoria and Jadavpur were in the “purple” or “very unhealthy” category, where the risks of health effects increase for all categories of people.

In the case of Ballygunge, the level was in the “red” or “unhealthy” category, where some people may experience health effects, or those members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.

Environmentalists feel that although there are many rules and penal provisions in West Bengal about the flouting of the firecracker norms, the ground-level implementation of these continues to be pathetic.

They feel that the actual crackdown should have been ahead of the festive season, and that too against the illegal firecracker manufacturers. They also feel that the police actions during the festive seasons are mainly restricted to confiscating illegal firecrackers. But what is necessary, feel environmentalists, is a timely crackdown on the manufacturing bases of such illegal firecrackers and eliminating the problem at the root.

--IANS

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