00:00It's 6 p.m. in Kolkata, the day before Diwali.
00:07These people are participating in cycling with lights.
00:10In about 30 hours, fine particulate matter levels in the air will rocket to even higher
00:17levels than normal, the perfect time for an initiative designed to bring attention to
00:23pollution in the city.
00:26With some 24,000 people per square kilometre, Kolkata is one of the most densely populated
00:48cities in the world.
00:50The roads are choked.
00:52Every year, almost 90,000 additional vehicles are registered, according to the Centre of
00:56Science and Environment.
00:58The vast majority have combustion engines.
01:01All that is taking its toll on air quality here.
01:04Beyond a point, you really cannot expand your road network.
01:08And you have seen the kind of traffic that builds up.
01:12And we know that the traffic of vehicles that are caught in congestion, they emit a lot
01:17more than they're designed to emit.
01:19So all of that is making the transport sector a very serious challenge.
01:24Older diesel vehicles are the worst culprits when it comes to fine particulate matter emissions,
01:30which are particularly harmful to human health.
01:33And almost all large vehicles, like buses and trucks, have diesel engines.
01:38In 2022, the National Green Tribunal ordered the state of West Bengal to face out all vehicles
01:45that were older than 15 years, or that exceeded certain emission limits within six months.
01:50It was a start, but there is still a long way to go in the transport sector.
01:56We are trying to promote more and more cleaner fuel.
02:03Pipeline gas has reached almost nearer to Kolkata.
02:06It will be shortly reaching here, the pipeline will be reaching here.
02:11We have some EV charging stations.
02:13We have registered about 18,000 vehicles during the last one year or so.
02:20And Kolkata police has decided not to purchase any diesel vehicle in future.
02:26But at the same time, the city has practically eliminated its tram network.
02:31Kolkata was the first Indian city to have trams, and the only one where a few are still
02:36in operation.
02:38The authorities say trams cause congestion by competing with vehicles on the roads.
02:44Environmentalists are outraged.
02:48We are actually asking for upgradation of this technology, like solar-powered tram with
02:54modern technology and the exclusive tram track.
02:59So the government should think over it.
03:03Traffic is responsible for more than half of fine particulate matter pollution in Kolkata.
03:09Roadside stoves, garbage incineration, dust from building sites are all additional sources
03:18of air pollution.
03:20Elderly people, the sick and children are particularly at risk.
03:24But it's a potential health hazard for everyone.
03:28That's because actually what these poisoning gases does.
03:32They just triggers the immune system.
03:34That's why we are getting these kind of attacks, that is asthma attacks or COPD attacks,
03:39that is we call lung attack.
03:43Students at the Shree Shiksha Yathan School in South Kolkata are the lucky ones.
03:48This is a green campus, and environmental education is an integral part of the curriculum.
03:53I do not have a pen.
03:55A trust donated real-time air quality monitors to the school, so they can keep a close eye
04:01on levels.
04:03If the air pollution is too high, the students stay inside.
04:08We have been constantly monitoring the air quality index in our school, where three to
04:12four people are responsible for it.
04:15We have an app in our phones where we can see and we can monitor, we can check.
04:19Right now, it is moderate.
04:22The city first launched its Clean Air Action Plan in 2020.
04:27Special vehicles regularly sprinkle entire streets with water to help cut dust levels.
04:33This is already helping to improve things, along with other measures.
04:39We got the industrial units to move out of coal, and that was substituted.
04:46They have converted auto rickshaws to LPG, and the collection efficiency of municipal
04:53solid waste has increased.
04:55They have given subsidy to replace the solid fuel-based cooking with the LPG cooking.
05:05But Kolkata still has one of the worst particulate matter pollution levels in India, so more
05:12must be done in the long run.
05:18One, it really requires a very ambitious electrification program of vehicles.
05:24Other sectors, like the waste sector, has to ensure 100% segregation and absolutely
05:31100% collection, and then the material recovery, and also ramping up your renewable energy portfolio.
05:39Kolkata also has districts in which people can go shopping or go to work or school within
05:45a radius of three to five kilometers of their homes.
05:49Other cities can only dream of such a thing.
05:53Compared with other cities in India, Kolkata's residents use public transport a lot.
05:59The city needs to capitalize on those strengths, and that's what the participants of Cycling
06:05with Lights are fighting for too.
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