The carbon monoxide level at the industrial port town is way above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) norms, particularly in the residential areas. In the industrial areas it is still lower than the relevant norms but is at the threshold during the winter months.

A top bureaucrat posted at Haldia told The Financial Express, "It is the pollution control board that monitors the environment. They have identified a few industrial units who are polluting the environment and notices have been issued to them. I believe the problem can be attributed to these industrial units."

While the NAAQS for CO in residential areas is 2,290 micro grams per cubic metre, at Haldia the average in residential areas is above 3,000 micro grams insummer and above 4,000 micro grams in winter, according to data collected by monitoring stations of West Bengal Pollution Control Board.

The NAAQS standard for carbon monoxide in industrial areas is 5,725 micro grams per cubic metre. The carbon monoxide level at Haldia in the industrial areas is close to the threshold but still below the mark.

The worrying factor here is that major industrial activity is yet to start at Haldia. The Rs 5,170-crore Haldia Petrochemicals, the largest ever project in the state, will start operating in October only. Also coming up are a downstream industries park and PET plant by Mitsubishi Chemicals.

A thousand families will move in to Haldia soon for the HPL project only. The resultant effect on CO-levels can be devastating. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that forms due to incomplete combustion of carbon. While modern industrial projects are expected not to emit CO to the air, simple burning of wood releases CO and can easily increase the level.

A study was conductedby the Calcutta-based Centre for Study on Man & Environment on the environment at Haldia. Monitoring was done in two seasons -- April-May 1998 and December-January 1998. Air quality was monitored at five stations and noise level was monitored at 10 places in Haldia.

The centre collects data on behalf of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board all over the state and also publishes its own findings.

This study by Biswajit Mukherjee and Santosh Mandal found quite a few alarming aspects about the environment of Haldia. Apart from CO, the respirable particulate matter (RPM) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) in air are other areas of concern.

The study was conducted by putting up five ambient air quality monitoring stations at different places in Haldia.

The RPM count of Haldia in residential areas exceeds NAAQS standards in the winter months. While the standard is 100 micro grams per cubic metre at Haldia, RPM is varying between 109 and 203 micro grams per cubic metre at the three stations placed inthe residential areas.

The NAAQS standard for RPM in industrial areas is 200 micro gram per cubic metre. While one station showed compliance to the norms, the other did not and recorded a high of 293 micro grams per cubic metre in one of the winter months. The other cause for worry is the suspended particulate matter count or SPM. On an average, the SPM in residential areas of Haldia is way above the NAAQS standards in the winter months. There is better compliance with the standards during the summer months and the industrial areas.

The CO level of Haldia is sometimes higher than that in certain areas of Calcutta. Calcutta is, of course, one of the most polluted cities in the country with high levels of traffic.

Some of the other areas that the study checked for was sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen in air. The study mentions that these two categories were well within the NAAQS levels and there is no cause for alarm either.There is a marked deterioration in the quality of air at Haldia during thewinter months. The study says that this is due to the presence of winter fog and thermal inversion from summer to winter which prevent dispersion of pollutants.

The study has also covered noise pollution and has measured noise levels at 10 stations in Haldia. The areas have been divided into residential, commercial and industrial according to land use. The study says: "The noise levels at different land use classes are very near or above the threshold limits. This may increase in future due to the increased industrial and commercial activities."

During the winter days the noise level is 6.6 per cent higher than the that of the summer days. The difference is 13.4 per cent between night-time noise levels between summer and winter.

Haldia has become the icon of industrial rejuvenation in eastern India. One just hopes it does not enter the list of most polluted Indian too.