Kolkata: The city woke up to a smoggy Thursday with poor visibility while the overall air quality deteriorated to the ‘poor’ category (AQI: 201-300) from the ‘moderate’ level (AQI: 101-200). This decline was primarily influenced by unfavourable meteorological conditions.
Kolkata clocked a minimum temperature of 16.8°C and a maximum of 27°C.
The city’s wind system became stagnant, with speeds dropping below 2 m/second. Wind, coupled with atmospheric temperature, plays a crucial role in cleansing the air. However, with reduced vertical wind speed, the atmosphere’s ability to disperse pollutants significantly diminished, leading to the accumulation of harmful particles.
On Thursday, the air quality in Kolkata reflected a worsening environmental condition across key monitoring stations. At 6 am, AQI readings were already within the ‘poor’ range at several locations, with Ballygunge at 228, Salt Lake at 201, Fort William at 217, Jadavpur at 186, RBU at 206, and Rabindra Sarobar at 137. Significantly, Victoria’s air quality teetered on the line between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ at 194.
The situation worsened by 3 pm, with Ballygunge at 250, Salt Lake at 202, Fort William steady at 216, Jadavpur climbing to 205, RBU rising to 213, Rabindra Sarobar at 146, and Victoria showing a minor improvement at 185. By 6 pm, the AQI levels peaked, with Ballygunge at 264, Salt Lake at 210, Fort William at 227, Jadavpur at 211, RBU at 228, Rabindra Sarobar at 153, and Victoria at 191. The overall trend highligh-ted a concerning rise in pollution levels, particularly in areas like Ballygunge and RBU, emphasizing the need for immediate environmental interventions.
The poor air quality is part of a seasonal trend that worsens in winter due to meteorological factors. An anti-cyclonic flow from the Odisha coast is infusing moisture from the Bay of Bengal at the lower level. This weather condition is causing dense fog in the mornings in Kolkata and coastal districts. The Met office expects dense to moderate fog conditions on Friday also, which may cause visibility issues early in the morning.
The maximum and minimum temperatures were 1.2 and 2.7 notches above normal, respectively, on Thursday. Wh-ile the warm spell is likely to continue till Saturday, the Met office expects the mercury to start falling from Sunday. “We expect the mercury to start falling from Sunday, to around 14°C, as the cold-bearing northwesterly wind will start breezing in,” said H R Biswas, head of the weather forecast section at Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata.
Despite slight variations, Kolkata’s air quality oscillated between “moderate” and “poor” in Jan. The graded response action plan (GRAP) has kicked in. The city’s environmental health continues to be a cause for concern, with urgent mitigation efforts required to address both seasonal and long-term pollution sources, said experts.
Swiss
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