Kolkata air quality deteriorates after people burst crackers in response to 9pm-9min call

Air quality was found to have deteriorated in several pockets of the city on Monday, after people burst crackers in response to the prime minister's call to light lamps and candles to display collective resolve against COVID-19. An official at the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) said air quality index (AQI) hovered between 100 and 150 (particulate matter 2.5) in Kolkata -- a spike from 'satisfactory' to 'moderate' level, amid the lockdown.

"The cracker bursting has led to temporary concentration of respirable particulate matter in the air in certain pockets of the city and that would take time to dissipate," he told PTI. The US Consulate Air Monitoring unit, near Park Street, read 151 AQI at 10 am -- up from 139 on Saturday.

An hour after the 9 pm-9 minutes initiative on Sunday, the AQI level was at 156. Similarly, the AQI stood at 94 at the Fort William air monitoring unit, just minutes before people turned the PM's solidarity call into an occasion for frenzied celebrations.

Around 11 am on Monday, the AQI level at the Fort William unit had touched 101. At Rabindra Sarobar, too, the AQI stood at 102 at 11 am -- an abrupt increase from 70 at 9 pm on Sunday.

"Air quality had substantially improved in the city over the past week, amid the lockdown imposed by the government due to the growing COVID-19 threat, as industries suspended operations and vehicles kept off the roads. "Hopefully, the AQI will climb down to 'satisfactory' level again over the next 24-48 hours, with the lockdown still in force," the WBPCB official said.

Environmentalist Somendranath Ghosh, however, said that the harmful pollutants released by the crackers often take days to die down. "Burning of any object leads to immense air pollution.

Even 10 minutes of cracker bursting could trigger pollutants that remain suspended in the air for several days," Ghosh added..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)