KOLKATA: Howrah and Kolkata are among the 42 cities across the country with a million-plus population that can claim a share of the Rs 2,217-crore kitty to fight air pollution. There are seven towns in Bengal where pollution levels are very poor but will be unable to tap into the fund to improve the air quality.
That’s a concern that West Bengal Pollution Control Board chairman Kalyan Rudra reflected upon: “There is no doubt that local level anti-pollution action is important and sacrosanct. But the most effective battle against air pollution cannot be restricted to one or two cities. There has to be concerted efforts to clean up the airshed of the entire Indo-Gangetic plain as the air pollution is increasingly becoming a trans-border issue.”
In a series of exchanges with IITs, WBPCB has found that the emission inventory of the city does not match with the level of different pollutants in its ambient air. “Any creation of funds for fighting air pollution is well intended. But its purpose will be fulfilled, if it is not seen as a problem of one or two cities,” said another PCB official.
Under the targeted funding for cities, Kolkata and Howrah had received funding for clean air action last year as well. Under the new budget, another top up is expected and perhaps more cities may get added. While this is a step in the right direction, the spending requires performance-based indicators to make verifiable improvement in air quality, said air pollution expert Anumita Roychowdhury. “Mitigation action needs to move beyond the city limit to have a regional or airshed focus,” the executive director of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) remarked.
Green crusader Subhas Datta, who has fought a series of legal battles against the steady degradation of ambient air quality in the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, said he hoped the fund would help greater compliance of numerous orders passed by the National Green Tribunal.
“City authorities have been very slow in their course of action. By the time they act under duress, the damage is done. We need a perfect marriage of money and mind (intent) in this context,” said Datta.
The budget on Monday reiterated the scrapping age for automobiles: 15 years for commercial vehicles and 20 years for private vehicles. However, it will be voluntary for the latter. Private cars that cross 20 years will be required to undergo fitness tests in automated fitness centres. If it passes the test, it can ply on the roads. But if it fails, the vehicle will have to be scrapped.