Earth Day Panel Discussions See Strong Consensus On Accelerated Clean Air Action Plan for Kolkata & Rapid EV Adoption As Key To Unlocking sustainable Kolkata

Kolkata, 23rd April, 2022: SwitchON Foundation as part of the Kolkata Earth Festival today organized a Multi stakeholder, high level panel discussions at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, following the Earth Day celebrations around the world yesterday. This was the first year of the annual Kolkata Earth Festival organized together by the environmental groups SwitchON Foundation, along with Y-East  & Earth Day Network, in the city – with an attempt to highlight some of the most pressing socio-environmental issues of the region. 

The key panel discussions saw a strong consensus among stakeholders present, including policymakers, environmental and mobility experts, Electric Vehicle (EV) industry stakeholders, and media representatives on the need for urgent implementation of the ‘Clean Air Action Plan’ for Kolkata. As well as at the same time, how a key accelerated sustainable mobility and EV transition programme for the city could unlock the grave issues of declining air quality and growing congestion in the city. 

Kolkata has to adopt sustainable mobility policies that could bring in powerful ways to clear the skies and make the urban air quality better. 

For the past few years Kolkata has been facing catastrophic air pollution with a huge part of the population directly exposed to poor air quality. Vehicular pollution accounts for 50 per cent of the problem. At the same time Electric Mobility currently presents a viable alternative in addressing many challenges and is undoubtedly the need of the hour with an eminent scope of transformation of the transportation ecosystem. 

Rising fuel costs along with pertinent environmental concerns are glaring causes why electric vehicles are the need of the day. Based on this realization, the GoWB had earlier introduced an innovative Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 with a mission to place WB as the frontrunner in building a sustainable transportation infrastructure by promoting electric mobility ecosystem in the state.

Mr. Rajanvir Singh Kapur (IAS) delivered the keynote address for the session on Sustainable Mobility he said “As people increasingly choose eco-friendly options in their local areas, municipalities must do their part in providing their citizens with these options. Choosing to be environmentally conscious shouldn’t sacrifice convenience and cost, and the way to do this is to enable and promote eco-friendly mobility options.”

During the event, he announced that by this durga pujo two tram lines of kolkata will be revived and WBTC will be having all its new fleet of buses running on electric including converting the entire fleet of old buses into CNG by 2025.

Speaking at the occasion during the panel discussion on air pollution, Dr. Dipanjali Majumdar from CSIR NEERI said “ The population kolkata is highly exposed to benzene. With the increasing number of private cars, there is a dire need to change our current mobility behavior.” She further added “As more organizations, public institutions, and government bodies recognize the costs of air pollution, smog, and their huge impact on the environment, more resources need to be funneled into developing strategies to reduce pollution in cities.”

Dr. Arup Haldar, a renowned pulmonologist from the Woodland Hospital said “ There is increasing number cancer patient in Kolkata. Vehicular Congestion contributes to harmful CO2 emissions and release of other toxic elements causing serious neurobehavioral disorders. To improve air quality and public health, we need all hands on deck – in other words a holistic and multisectoral approach.”

Prof. Sudakshina Gupta from the Calcutta University and an expert on urban planning, spoke in the urban mobility panel and said “Sustainable mobility reduces air pollution by incorporating eco-friendly practices into urban planning and management. Transport planning and environmental planning are both integral parts of urban planning. The road space in Kolkata is only 6% of its total area. It even becomes less due to parking of cars on both sides of the road. To get rid of the congestion problem, big electric buses may be introduced. That may substitute a few smaller cars and reduce the problems of congestion, pollution and parking space.” She further adds “Placing charging stations at appropriate places is also an important aspect of urban planning.”

“A city with a sustainable mobility strategy supporting equitable non motorized modes of transport, green spaces, and actions or technology that improves air quality and lowers carbon footprints, would truly be the champion cities of the sustainable world we all aspire for. We therefore must look at the different ways our current mobility systems contribute to poor air quality and strategically address that with more sustainable versions”

Ms. Lipika a passionate cyclist who was a part of the panel discussion said  “An improvement of air quality means a reduction of emission of air pollutants, for example through less vehicle kilometers traveled, less and shorter trips, more trips by public transport and non-motorised modes like bicycles – which are more efficient and less polluting than regular vehicles.”

From the industries point of view; Mr. Rajesh Ojha from AMWA Moto LLP said “After Delhi, Bengal was the first state of India where e-rickshaw adoption was fast and today for urban,semi urban and rural areas we use e-rickshaw for last mile connectivity.  E-Buses were also commercially operating on city roads far before other states. Today’s demand is charging/swapping infrastructure for e2w,e3w,e4w and buses which helps in fast adoption of EV . NMTs like electric 2 wheelers are the best option for senior students of schools and colleges today, this again helps for lowering down the pollution level in cities.”

Media Drossier 

Bengali Press Release

Hindi Press Release