Kolkata has ranked 2nd in the list of most polluted metro cities in India, it is the 60th most polluted in the world, in IQ Air’s World AIr Quality Report. The major pollutant is PM 2.5 which is also considered to have the worst effect on lungs since it cannot be filtered due to its small size, the concentration of PM 2.5 has been reported to be 12 times higher than what is considered safe by UN standards.
The reason for the increase in the concentration of PM 2.5 is mainly pollutants from outside of the city, according to a research conducted by the Bose Institute in 2021, 20-25% of it comes from outside. About half of the pollutants are from Uttar Pradesh, BIhar and Jharkhand, a minor portion also comes from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Bangladesh via the Bay of Bengal and Sundarbans, dust and ashes form construction and burning of waste.
In 2009, says Abhijit Chatterjee, an associate professor of Bose Institute, the percentage of PM 2.5 was from vehicles was around 40-45% now it has been reduced to about 15-20%, the gross pollution from vehicles has not reduced, there is more PM 2.5 in the air. Construction and waste burning are now larger contributors to PM 2.5.
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