Kolkata air quality shows slight improvement after holiday lull but remains moderate
Telegraph | 27 January 2026
The air quality was marginally better on Monday than it was on Sunday.
An environmental scientist said reduced volume of vehicles on the road and closed construction sites may have helped.
It was, however, still far from what is desired.
At 3pm on Monday, four out of seven air quality monitoring stations at Bidhannagar, Fort William, Rabindra Bharati University (BT Road campus) and Rabindra Sarobar reported moderate air quality.
At the same time on Sunday, only two stations at Bidhannagar and Rabindra Sarobar reported moderate air quality.
With the winter fading away, Calcuttans remained outdoors in large numbers on both days, trying to savour the last spell of relatively pleasant weather.
According to the National Air Quality Index, prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board, “moderate” air quality can lead to “breathing discomfort to the people with lungs, asthma and heart diseases.”
The air quality at some stations in Calcutta on Monday afternoon was noted to be two levels below the optimal category of good in the AQI index. Nevertheless, in light of the severely polluted air that has characterised Calcutta for the majority of the winter, the moderate air quality reported at four stations is comparatively positive.
An environmental scientist noted that it was challenging to clearly explain why the air quality was more favourable on Monday than on Sunday. Typically, factors such as warmer temperatures and higher wind speeds facilitate the dispersion of pollutants, which is reflected in improved air quality readings.
The scientist also said factors like reduced number of vehicles and fewer construction activities on Republic Day, a notified holiday, could have helped improve the air quality. “It might be that because of Republic Day, many construction sites remained shut on Monday. The volume of buses, cars and two-wheelers would be less than on a weekday. The tailpipe emission from vehicles was less,” said the scientist with the state pollution control board (PCB).
Sunday being a holiday, the emission load has been lower than usual on two successive days.
Roadside eateries, many of them using coal-fired ovens, were also closed on Sunday and Monday, especially in the office hubs.
A report from The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), commissioned by the state pollution control board (PCB), focused on identifying the sources of air pollution and their relative contributions, concluding that cooking with coal or biomass contributed 29 per cent to the generation of PM 2.5. Industries contributed 21 per cent and tailpipe emissions from vehicles contributed 20 per cent to the formation of PM 2.5.
The contribution of dust to PM 2.5 was 12 per cent, but it was the top contributor (43 per cent) towards the generation of PM 10.