Gangasagar: Ahead of the Gangasagar Mela, scheduled to take place on January 10, the increasing air pollution remained a cause of worry for the administration. Despite all precautionary alerts from the administration, the air pollution level crossed the danger level on Monday. The AQI level touched 244 at 10 am which falls in the 'very unhealthy' category.
An AQI reading between 0-50 is considered good as it falls in the Green Zone with no harm to human beings while 51-100 is considered moderate as it's placed under the Yellow Zone with minor risk. However, the Orange Zone with AQI between 101-150 in which members of the sensitive groups may experience health effects while the Red Zone with 151-200 AQI, the Purple Zone with 201-300 and the Maroon Zone with AQI above 300 are the most severe.
As per the AQI, air quality in Ganagsagar remains in the Purple Zone which leads to increasing health risks. Significantly, the sound pollution was under control with 39 decibels.
Meanwhile, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee landed there on Monday, the authorities could not be reached on the matter of pollution.
"Mainly fog and low-temperature lead to poor AQI level with a spurt in the PM matters in the air," Kalyan Rudra, chairman of the Pollution Control Board, said.
The administration has been keeping a close vigil on the pollution level and visitors are being made aware of it through miking. Police and volunteers are also observing it keenly.
The ongoing riverbank reconstruction is believed to have added to the particulate matter in the air coupled with the rush of vehicles and persistent fog conditions. The administration has arranged for water sprinklers to keep a check on pollution.
"It is difficult for the administration and the police to abate the condition and many visitors light bonfires in the fairground, giving the administrative orders a miss. But we never imagined the pollution level would reach such a level," Swapan Maity, a shopowner, said.
At 7.30 am, the AQI was 189 in Ballygunge, 176 in Chetla, 171 in Dhakura, 157 in Fort William, 182 in Jadavpur and 230 in the US Consulate in Kolkata.
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