Choked by Dhapa fumes, Bypass residents fight for right to breathe

KOLKATA: Residents of an upscale housing complex on EM Bypass huffed and puffed as a sudden gush of smoke from the nearby Dhapa dumping site turned the heavy air — the mercury dropped to 12.6°C on Friday — toxic, with the PM2.5 count shooting up to 480 microgram per cubic metre.



“The air-quality monitoring device that we have installed in the complex alerts us whenever the count shoots up abnormally,” said Suresh Agarwal, a Silver Spring resident who is steering the antipollution campaign in the complex. Silver Spring, significantly, is just 1km from the Dhapa dump site and is directly exposed to toxic fumes emanating from the mountain of garbagepermanently on fire.

“Ever since I have started living in the complex, my entire family, including my twoyear-old kid, has become dependent on inhaler and generous dose of anti-allergic medicines. It my duty to ensure clean air and water for my family members,” said Dr Apurba Garg. The head and neck surgeon has decided to shift out of the complex to get away from the “line of fire”.

Ratanlal Agarwal, the president of the apartment owners’ association, wants to take it to the highest possible level. “I have already met officials of the pollution control board after reading the TOI report. They have apprised us about the measures being adopted by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Kolkata Police. We hope that something will come out of them,” he said.

Silver Spring residents have also woken up to the necessity of green cover. Bajrang Agarwal, the ‘green man’ of the complex, is now more proactive in planting more trees on the premises. He is researching the species of trees which absorb pollutants. “I work hard to grow flowering plants in the complex. But now I feel that flowering plants will not be enough to fight pollution,” he said.

The association has been quick to hold a workshop on urban gardening and waste management. “We want to have a live demonstration on waste segregation and composting. Kitchen waste contributes up to 70% of the municipal solid waste. It is the solid waste that is incinerated and leads to production of methane. We want to develop a model by which our housing will generate the least waste,” said Suresh Agarwal.

Ranendra Chrestien, secretary of the association, said, “Apart from the Dhapa smoke, we are also hit hard by the burning of recyclable material retrieved from Dhapa on the KMC plot just behind our complex. The toxic fumes are unbearable.”