Some of the issues that are essential for Kolkata’s envir’onment do not even figure in the political discourse related to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections.
With the green cover fast depleting, Kolkata’s air turns ‘very poor or ‘severe’ every winter.
No major political party participating in Sunday’s KMC polls has laid out a clear plan on how they would combat the deteriorating air quality or protect the city from onslaughts of cyclones or flooding during the monsoon.
The Trinamul manifesto makes no mention of any of these issues apart from saying that the party would promote electric vehicles.
The BJP’s manifesto talks about combating air pollution by vacuum cleaning roads, reducing industrial emission and providing clean cooking fuel to households.
The Left Front manifesto talks about introducing CNG, an environment-friendly fuel, and electric vehicles. It also talks about protecting the East Kolkata Wetlands from encroachment.
The Congress manifesto highlights the frequent flooding of the city.
Environment activists said protecting the wetlands, improving the air quality of the city and taking measures to protect the city from fierce storms could no longer be pushed to the periphery.
Nearly 5,000 electric poles were uprooted in the city by cyclone Amphan in 2020. Large parts of the city remained in darkness for days. Thousands of trees were uprooted.
Environmentalists had then highlighted the need to have a tree cover that could act as barriers against fierce winds and protect the public infrastructure.
Destruction of the East Kolkata Wetlands will spell disaster for the city, environmentalists have long warned. “The natural slope of Kolkata is towards the east. If the wetlands are destroyed, the city will get flooded every now and then. It will be a disaster,” said an environmentalist.
The wetlands save the city crores of rupees by acting as a natural effluent treatment facility.
The other factor of worry in the city is its extremely poor air quality. Goods vehicles are responsible for the bulk of automobile pollution in Kolkata and Howrah, a study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute says.
To make matters worse, poor execution of rules at construction sites further make the city dusty. “There are rules that say that construction materials should be covered and construction sites watered so that they do not emanate dust. But no one follows it and there is no one to check,” said a Calcuttan.
Firhad Hakim, chairperson of the CMC’s board of administrators, blamed “an oversight” for the omission of the issue of air quality from the Trinamul manifesto.
“But I have personally said in the campaigns that we will stop the entry of large trucks into the city, which is why we are building a huge terminal in Howrah. We have also promised to convert all public buses into electric vehicles within three years.”
Adhir Chowdhury of the Congress said they were speaking about the need to have more display boards showing the air quality in key places of Calcutta.
The CPM’s Calcutta district committee secretary, Kallol Majumdar, said protecting the East Calcutta Wetlands would protect the city from many hazards.
The BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya said the party was “a pioneer when it comes to renewable fuel sources”.
But green activists were not content with what they have seen and heard. The parties have skirted key issues concerning environment and green matters.
Sabuj Mancha, a platform of citizens concerned about the environment, released a charter of demands on Tuesday.
“An analysis of the manifestos makes it clear that no party gives importance to green issues impacting the city’s residents every day. We have released a 15-point charter of demands for the next civic board,” said Naba Dutta, general secretary of Sabuj Mancha.
- Cleaning Calcutta’s air
- Scrapping old smoke-belching vehicles
- Bringing clean fuel to the city
- Protecting the East Calcutta Wetlands
- Restoring network of canals
- Enforcing noise rules