Mayor seeks police help to curb roadside burning of dry leaves
Times of India | 19 December 2025
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)'s environment department will write to the officers-in-charge of police stations in the 144 wards to monitor the burning of dry leaves and other materials in the evenings. Street-side burning leads to worsening of the air quality index of the city, which has been showing a downward trend.
Swapan Samaddar, member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC environment department, said on Thursday that without help from the police, the civic body was not in a position to stop the burning of dry leaves during winter. Samaddar also requested the KMC councillors to come forward and keep vigil over a section of people who are in the habit of burning dry leaves every winter.
In reply to Meenakshi Ganguli's question on the endeavours of the civic body in fighting the smog in the city, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Thursday — at the monthly House session — that water sprinklers were being used to wash roads and water roadside trees. However, Samaddar conceded that the civic body didn't have adequate water sprinklers to take care of the city's 144 KMC wards.
Ganguli also requested the KMC brass to send water tanks to water large trees in Deshabandhu Park in north Kolkata.
Last year in Bhowanipore's Ladies' Park (Southern Park), a conservancy worker was spotted burning dry leaves in the morning, leading to air pollution in the surrounding locality. Sanjay Mishra, a resident of Ramesh Mitra Road who uses the shortcut inside the park on the way to his office, said, "I have breathing-related issues; the sudden gush of acrid fumes made me feel uneasy."
It was found that the leaf burning continued for more than an hour. Ranajit Chakravarty, an environmentally conscious local resident, said, "Burning leaves contributes to air pollution by releasing particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and other harmful pollutants, posing risks to human health and the environment."