About 5 thousand people die every year due to air pollution in Kolkata
4 thousand 700 people die every year due to air pollution in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, India. This sensational information has emerged recently in a study by The Lancet Planetary Health Journal.
According to the study, 33 thousand people die every year due to air pollution in 10 cities of India. In those 10 important cities, the daily death rate due to air pollution is more than 7 percent. The list includes Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi.
The survey found that Delhi tops the list of deaths due to air pollution, with 12,000 deaths per year. In Mumbai this number is 5 thousand 100. 4,700 people die annually due to air pollution in Kolkata, 2,900 in Chennai, 2,100 in Bangalore and 830 in Varanasi. At the bottom of the list is Shimla, which has the lowest annual number of deaths due to air pollution at just 59.
Kolkata is one of the largest metro cities in India with a population of over 14 million. According to the 2022 Global Air Quality Report, Kolkata was the second most polluted city in the world in 2019.
According to a 2017 study by MDPI, poor maintenance of Kolkata’s transport system and heavy fuel consumption due to increasing number of vehicles are the main causes of air pollution in the city. Kolkata has only 6 percent of the total road space, which slows down the average speed of vehicles and increases smog pollution from traffic congestion.
According to a 2017 statistic, the number of vehicles plying in Kolkata is increasing at a rate of 4 percent every year. According to a 2022 study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, Kolkata has the highest rate of lung cancer among cities outside Northeast India. Among men, lung cancer rates were 22 in Kolkata, 11.8 in Delhi, 11.8 in Chennai and 9.5 in Mumbai. On the other hand, in case of women, the ratio is 7.0 in Kolkata, 4.0 in Delhi, 4.7 and 6.0 in Chennai and Mumbai respectively.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 7 million people die every year due to air pollution. According to the agency’s report, the level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air is about 17 times higher than the level set by WHO. Just as poison vapors are damaging the whole body including the lungs, mental disorders are also increasing due to air pollution.
According to a study by the Milken Institute School of Public Health under the University of Washington, Kolkata’s air in 2019 averaged 84 micrograms per cubic meter of particulate matter or PM 2.5, more than double the level allowed by the central government and 17 times the World Health Organization limit. quality
The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NIRI) reported in 2019 that 4,540 metric tons of fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 floats in Kolkata’s air annually. The three main sources of this pollutant are household (28 percent), road dust (25 percent) and black smoke from vehicles (24 percent). Industry contributes only 7 percent, open burning of coal or wood adds another 7 percent to pollution.
To prevent air pollution, ‘Air Quality Management Plan’ has already been prepared for six cities of the state including Kolkata. Eight government departments have been tasked with implementing the programme. Satellite monitoring has been started to stop burning of crop residues, dust is being sprayed on roads in winter to try to reduce dust. Roadside hotels are encouraged to use gas as fuel instead of coal. West Bengal Transport Department has started running ‘Electric Bus’.
