Objective

This is the initiative of the Government of West Bengal to prepare and implement comprehensive clean air action plan to reduce particulate air pollution in non-attainment cities of West Bengal. The Hon’ble National Green Tribunal’s (NGT)  order  dated  6  August  2019  has  added six new non-attainment cities (NACs) in West Bengal namely Howrah, Barrackpore, Haldia, Asansol, Kolkata and Durgapur to the list of the non- attainment cities. The order has directed, Action Plans need to be prepared by States for the additional 20 non attainment cities (NACs) on the pattern of 102 NACs within three months and after its approval by CPCB within two months, States must initiate time bound action on remediation within next three months. Presently, there are 131 Non Attainment Cities (NACs) all over across India. These cities require to submit the clean air action plans to the Air Quality Monitoring (AQM) committee within three months of the order. The action plans will be reviewed and examined by a three-member committee to implement the plan. These action plans are being prepared within the broader framework of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) that has set a generic target of 20–30 per cent reduction in particulate pollution by 2024.

The Government of West Bengal has set up a three-tier committee to facilitate framing and implementation of the clean air plans:

1. Steering Committee for implementation of Committee, WB–led by Chief Secretary
2. Monitoring Committee for implementation of  Committee,  WB–led by Principal Secretary, Environment
3. Implementation Committee for NCAP in Durgapur–led by Commissioner, DMC

Multi-sector and integrated clean air action plans have been developed for each of the six non-attainment cities  of  West  Bengal.  For  best results the plans have considered a larger region around the city to take into account the trans-boundary effect of pollution. This report is on Durgapur, one of the most industrialized towns in eastern India that represents special pollution challenges.

This report is divided into two parts.

Part 1 presents the overview of air quality trends, public health evidence, and challenges in each sector that need addressing through the action planning process in the city. This multi-sector plan includes review of current challenges and baseline policy action in the concerned sectors of pollution control including industry, power plant, vehicles and mobility, construction activities, waste burning, road dust, solid fuels in domestic cooking and roadside eateries among others. This has reviewed the available information from existing studies and reports, official databases, field assessment, and information available from the implementing agencies.

Part 2 lays out the proposed Clean Air Action Plan (CAP) for each city in tabular form that identifies specific measures in each sector, lists agencies responsible for implementation of measures and the timeline for action. While substantial part of the proposed measures are common and uniform for all the six cities, further customization has been done depending on the nature of the local issues and problems. The framing of the action plans has taken into account several ongoing initiatives of the State Government of West Bengal to implement strategies in each sector that have a bearing on the air quality. This has also drawn upon the existing plans as well as the baseline policy measures to have integrated plan for the city.

Durgapur, third most populated city of West Bengal, is located in the Paschim Badhaman district. Industrial emissions, road dust, vehicular emissions, emissions from construction sector and trans-boundary pollution continue to foul the city air. The situation aggravates in winter months when typical weather conditions like temperature inversions entrap pollutants in lower levels of atmosphere.