Next week, water cannons will be rolling out along the city roads. But, for a change, they will not be volleying water sprays at irate mobs, but will seek to curb air pollution weighing down on the city. With an uphill task in its hands to improve the city’s air quality, the state pollution control board has joined hands with the civic bodies, state Fire and Emergency Services Department and police commissionerates, seeking to launch a pincer attack on air pollution that increases drastically with the onset of winter.

The officials of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) held a meeting with Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Kolkata Police, Bidhannagar City Police, Howrah City Police and the state Fire and Emergency Services Department representatives, last week to draw up a roadmap for combating the air pollution which is expected to shoot up in the next few weeks. An unanimous decision has been taken by various agencies of the city and its neighbourhood to undertake extensive water sprinkling to curb pollution.

The government agencies, as a part of the scheme, have proposed to utilise some of their vehicles to work jointly with WBPCB for sprinkling water on the roads. The Kolkata Police has offered a few of its water cannons that are kept idle during greater part of the year. As all the fire tenders at various fire stations are not used every day, the director general of the state Fire and Emergency Services Department has also proposed to lend some of the fire engines for the cause.

The WBPCB, which is the leader of the initiative, has proposed to enhance the efficiency of the sprinklers by using ‘water atomisation process.’ “By using this methodology, the volume of water which is presently being sprayed over a particular surface area, can be effectively used to cover a larger area. Thus, with this process, while the same volume of water, more surface area can be covered,” informed an official of WBPCB. According to the official, initially, the sprinkling will be done with water only.

Later, it will be mixed with a particular kind of a mixture that functions as a suppressant. “The mixture has been experimented with recently and is found to be very effective. The suppressants are semi-synthetic and not toxic in nature. It has also been certified by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research,” said the official. Notably, stretches between Ultadanga and Kasba Connector have already been sprinkled with water as part of this anti-pollution drive. The task will be carried out more extensively from next week.