As the New Year celebrations came to an end, Kolkata’s air quality recorded a slight improvement on paper, though pollution levels across the city continue to raise concern. As per official data, air quality at all monitoring stations has shifted from the ‘Very Poor’ category to ‘Poor’, indicating improvement largely on paper.
On Thursday night, areas such as Jadavpur and Salt Lake had recorded ‘Very Poor’ air quality. By Saturday morning, the situation had eased slightly, with no station reporting ‘Very Poor’ levels, though none entered the ‘Moderate’ category either.
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AQI readings across Kolkata at 9 AM on Saturday
According to data recorded at 9 am, the Air Quality Index (AQI) at major monitoring stations stood as follows:
Ballygunge: 202
Bidhannagar: 167
Fort William: 176
Jadavpur: 260
Rabindra Bharati: 243
Rabindra Sarobar: 135
Victoria: 244
Pollution Control Board officials said that air quality is consistently worse during early morning hours and improves gradually as the day progresses.
Daytime improvement offers limited relief
The trend was evident on Friday as well. Ballygunge recorded an AQI of 221 at 6 am, which declined to 213 by 6 pm. Fort William saw AQI drop from 203 in the morning to 179 in the evening. Salt Lake and Jadavpur, which recorded AQI levels of 303 and 304, respectively, in the morning, showed improvement by evening, settling at 278 and 176.
Despite these variations, officials said the change has been minimal, with overall air quality remaining in the ‘Poor’ category.
Victoria area remains a concern
The Victoria Memorial area continues to draw attention. While AQI levels declined slightly from 290 in the morning to 270 by evening, the limited improvement has raised concerns among pollution control authorities.
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Cold conditions continue across the state
Kolkata continues to experience a biting cold. Light fog in the morning clears as the day advances, with skies remaining mostly clear. The minimum temperature on Saturday was recorded at 11.6°C. According to IMD, temperatures will rise slowly due to an active western disturbance, with weekend temperatures expected to hover between 13°C and 15°C. Another temperature dip is likely by mid-next week.
IMD has forecast rain in four districts of North Bengal until Saturday. Snowfall is also possible in the higher reaches of Darjeeling, including Sandakphu, due to the same western disturbance.
