Bandhs called at the drop of a hat in West Bengal might paralyse life and industry, scare prospective investors and tarnish the West Bengal state's image in the rest of the country, but the truth is bandhs make us all breathe easier. While comparison to a partial bandh day shows reduction of pollutants by about 30 per cent, the complete bandh was far more 'environment friendly' with pollutants down by at least 50 percent at all monitoring stations.