In a major U-turn from the long-standing demand of a Teesta treaty ensuring more water during lean periods from West Bengal, India; a senior government official of Bangladesh has pointed out that the country realistically stands little chance to get any more Teesta water from West Bengal. The proposal, if pursued officially, can have a
West Bengal Pollution Control Board has shot a letter to the Publishers and Booksellers guild directing “strict compliance of environmental norms” in the International Kolkata Book Fair which commenced on Monday after being inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The guild has been asked to send an action taken report to board by February 15.
A report card released recently shows that the level of the most toxic ultrafine particulate – PM 2.5 – has improved marginally in Kolkata during the last 4 years even after pumping hundreds of crores for pollution reduction, though the level is still well above the permissible limit in the country. PM 2.5 can penetrate
Kolkata has welcomed the New Year with almost unbreathable air. At 12 am on Saturday night, when hundreds of thousands were ringing in 2023 either on roads or at various open-air destinations, 5 out of 7 automatic air pollution measuring stations in the city recorded ‘very poor’ while one recorded ‘poor’ air quality. The situation
Experts have pointed out that the allowing the bursting of green crackers at New Year eve in Kolkata was a clear violation of Supreme Court order, as apex court has directed that such permission can only be given to areas where the air quality stands better than ‘poor’; but city’s air quality was ‘poor’ continuously
Mayor Firhad Hakim has a New Year resolution; to fulfill the dream that city’s fifth Mayor Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had over 90 years back. Subhas Chandra Bose was elected Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 1930 after serving as chief executive officer under Mayor Chirraranjan Das in 1924. “When Netaji Subhas Bose was the
Experts have pointed out that West Bengal pollution control board’s recent plan to put up a mega green wall to stop air pollutants entering the state from outside, the execution of which may run into several crores and take years, may not serve its purpose. According to sources, the proposed bio-shield will be put up
The model of ‘graded response action plan’ (GRAP), announced by the Bengal environment minister Manas Bhunia recently, to counter air pollution in Kolkata and five more polluted cities in the state has already been “scrapped” in Delhi where forecasting based GRAP model is presently followed; observed experts. “The model of GRAP, that is imposed when
India tops the list of countries when the rise of carbon emission is considered over the last year, shows a report released in COP 27 at Sharm El Sheikh on Friday. The 2022 carbon budget, released by Global Carbon Project, shows that, despite repeated warning from the experts to cut down greenhouse emission at the
West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has given clearance to a unit from Maheshtala in south 24 parganas, M T Industries, to manufacture green fireworks in late September which is owned by a local Trinamul councillor. The unit, so far, is the only one being cleared by the green regulatory body. The permission was provided