Urban mobility is rapidly becoming one of the greatest challenges facing developed and developing countries alike. Transport is estimated to be responsible for nearly a quarter of global energy-related CO2. There are also rising concerns about its impact on the quality of urban life, including social inequities, and about the effects of its pollution on health and buildings. Kolkata ranks second in the State of Global Air (SOGA) Report in 2022 among the ten most polluted cities in the world. The city has seen a sharp increase in personal vehicles as private buses have slowly disappeared from streets. Experts are of the opinion that the city's focus has transformed from mass transit to a car-centric transit policy which indicates that the public transportation system is deteriorating. The average level of ‘Particulate Matter’ (PM) is 2.5 in Kolkata’s air which is was more than 1.5 times the national standard and more than thirteen times the standard set by the World Health Organization. It is estimated that each day, Kolkata produces between four thousand and four thousand and five hundred metric tons of solid waste. The scientific community is now worried that if the current garbage burning and emissions system continues, Kolkata may soon become the most polluted metropolitan city in the country.
The pop-installation on all three days included games on waste, air pollution, and sustainable mobility for everyone to share knowledge on the impending dangers looming upon the city and how to unitedly move towards green economy, making the society more resilient through a transition that is fair and how to protect ecosystems to fight against climate change, global warming and health disorders.
ABOUT THE PARTNER: SwitchOn Foundation
Established in 2008, Environment Conservation Society (SwitchON Foundation) is a registered non-governmental organisation dedicated to work towards equitable and
sustainable development. Their journey commenced from a cycle ride undertaken by a handful of socially passionate youth in order to propagate the idea of environmental awareness across the youth and the marginal communities of the country. The seeds of ideas sowed in the journey laid the foundation for SwitchON’s work. Over the past decade they have completed multiple projects with bilateral organisations and government agencies, incubated 3 social enterprises, 5 farmer producer companies and over 500 micro enterprises in pursuit of fulfilling their mission.
