Kolkata residents breathe in air which has 3-5 times higher pollution levels than ambient level , says CSE’s Kolkata study

Also over the week, CSE’s air quality team conducted an exposure monitoring in the city to know how much pollution in air every Kolkata resident is exposed to. And the findings, released here today in a stakeholder dialogue, are startling.
CSE’s own monitoring, done during the last week of January 2016, has found extremely high levels of exposure in a city where ambient concentrations are already very high. CSE’s exposure monitoring provides clinching evidence of the alarming dose that an average Calcuttan breathes on a daily basis in different parts of the city – 2 to 3 times higher than the ambient level recorded by official monitors.

“Kolkata, while having made some strides in meeting air quality challenges, faces newer challenges. We have found that direct exposure to toxic fumes is very high in the city. Kolkata needs a technology leapfrog, scaling up of public transport, integrated multi-modal transport options, car restraints and walking for clean air,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, CSE and the head of the Centre’s air pollution control campaign.

Today’s stakeholder dialogue workshop in Kolkata was aimed at putting CSE’s findings in the public domain. CSE has a long history of having campaigned for better air quality in India’s cities, especially Delhi. The Centre has conducted similar monitoring exercises in Delhi and the results had been equally startling (to know more, please visit CSE’s website www.cseindia.org).

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