PCB to keep hawk eye on environmental pollution during Diwali

Kolkata: With Diwali round the corner, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board will keep a strict vigil on the city and the rest of the state to prevent pollution of the environment.

The WBPCB is helping the police 'test' firecrackers and publish a list of those which should be avoided to curb both noise and air pollution, Board chairman B K Dutta said today.

The WBPCB will open a 24-hour-open control room at its headquarter in the city to monitor the situation.

"We will open a 24-hour control room for October 23 (Kali Puja) and October 24 (Diwali) which will be manned by our officers. After receiving a complaint, they will consult the central police control and inform the local police to take proper action," he said.

In the districts and suburbs, the Board's regional offices would monitor the situation.

"The Control Room is not only for Kolkata but also for people from the districts. Officers at our regional offices in the districts and suburbs have been working for the awareness programmes and on the puja days they along with other representatives will keep a close watch so that the laws are not flouted," Dutta said.

Besides lining up awareness programmes, issuing notifications through newspapers, the state PCB would hold a procession from Deshapriya Park to Jatin Das Park tomorrow to raise awareness among people in a bid to curb noise and air pollution, he said.

"We are expecting around 2,000 participants in the procession," Dutta said.

"We have recently held a meeting with authorities, representatives from different housing societies, apartments on October 17 in this connection," Dutta said.