Chill worsens air quality, 4 AQI stns slip to ‘poor’ zone
Times of India | 29 December 2025
Kolkata: A dip in temperature triggered a deterioration in Kolkata's ambient air quality on Sunday, with four out of seven active Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations slipping into the ‘poor' category (AQI: 201–300). The city on Sunday woke up to a blanket of haze.
Data from monitoring network showed a role reversal among key stations. The Salt Lake station, which consistently recorded ‘moderate' air quality over the past week, turned ‘poor' while Victoria station, which was in the ‘very poor' category for much of Dec, turned ‘moderate'.
According to WBPCB, the prolonged ‘very poor' readings at the Victoria AQI station were largely linked to dust emission from construction work for a metro station on the Purple Line. "We requested both the Army authority and the Metro Railway authorities to take remedial measures for improving air quality in the vicinity," said WBPCB chairman Kalyan Rudra.
Officials attributed the deterioration in Salt Lake's AQI largely to extensive dust resuspension from damaged and uneven roads.
Other stations largely hovered in the ‘poor' category through the day. Fort William and Jadavpur recorded persistently high AQI readings while Ballygunge remained on the cusp of the ‘poor' bracket. Rabindra Sarobar continued to be the cleanest pocket in the city, staying within the ‘moderate' zone throughout the day.
Air quality experts cautioned that winter inversion conditions — where cooler air near the ground traps pollutants due to reduced vertical mixing — are now firmly in place.