Air & Sound Pollution in Kolkata: A Warning Scenario
Air & Sound Pollution in Kolkata: A Warning Scenario
Pollution is one of the biggest pandemics affecting the entire world slowly but steadily. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of it. When the cloud of dust and smoke envelopes a city, making it look like a fog-blanketed entity even though chilly months are yet to visit us, half of the population suddenly wake up to the reality of alarming pollution level.
The constant drumming by the news portals (both printed and online) and the environmentalists about the MONSTER pressing heavily on our existence, makes us aware that something like pollution has happened. Other times, we are cool about it as if it does not exist at all. Cheers!
Pollution in Kolkata
Delhi has always made it to the news headlines for its air pollution. But it is not only a Delhi syndrome as Kolkata is soon catching up with India’s capital city. A few days ago, the Kolkata Police have made a revelation about extracting more than 2 cores in the last 3 years as penalty for flouting pollution rules and regulations. The revelation has been made in response to the High Court’s query about why police does not take steps against unnecessary vehicle horning on the roads.
According to the anti-pollution cell of the Kolkata Police, the highest amount of financial penalty was received in 2021 and it was nearly 1 core. A section of the Kolkata Police department think that this figure explains how active the police are in controlling the breach of environment rules and pollution regulations.
A section of the environmentalists have mentioned an observation by the National Green Tribunal, which sought an answer from the police about unnecessary vehicle horning and why the police had not been able to control the notoriously chaotic environment.
The court has demanded a written explanation for the entire matter within the next couple of months. The report cited by the NGT clearly mentions that hospitals and surrounding areas, which come under the category of “silent zone”, suffer heavily from sound pollution.
Sound pollution caused by vehicles is usually coupled with air pollution. There has been a significant rise in car sales in Kolkata. However, this phenomenon is not unique to Kolkata, rather recorded in all the urban areas of the world. It has definitely contributed to the rising air pollution level. In fact, several reports claim that both types of pollution, air and sound, are very high in Kolkata and Howrah.
It is worth a mention in the context that that the Kolkata police have registered 6 lakhs+ cases for violating air and sound pollution laws during the period spanning from 1st January, 2019 to 31st December, 2021. During the same time period, the Howrah police have filed 43891 numbers of cases for vehicle emission. However, the environmentalists think that the actual figure of violating pollution rules is more than the number of registered cases.
Final Words
For all the environment-conscious folks, it is important to play their part in curbing and controlling the harrowing situation; otherwise, our future generation will have to pay a heavy price for our lackadaisical approach and ignorance. At the same time, we should buy car air purifiers and home air purifiers to save ourselves from dust, dirt and vehicle emissions and should not use car horns unless it is an absolute necessity.
