Highlights 

• A good number of India’s most polluted cities are not too keen to clean up their act, according to a list maintained by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
• Of the 102 cities singled out by the Centre for their alarming pollution levels, only 73 have submitted a plan of remedial action to the CPCB.
• Only 30 of these cities are ready to roll out their plans on the ground.
• Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Jaipur are among the prominent cities that are yet to submit their plans.
• These so called ‘non-attainment cities’ were among those marked out by the CPCB and asked – as part of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) – to implement 42 measures aimed at mitigating air pollution.

Related Info

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoE,FCC).
• It was established in 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• CPCB is also entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
• It serves as a field formation and also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• It Co-ordinates the activities of the State Pollution Control Boards by providing technical assistance and guidance and also resolves disputes among them.
• It is the apex organisation in country in the field of pollution control, as a technical wing of MoEF.
• The board is led by its chairman, who is nominated by the Central Government.

Sameer App

• Sameer ia an app which provides the hourly update of the National Air Quality Index (AQI) published by Central Pollution Control Board.
• Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand.
• It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number, nomenclature and color.
• This App is also for public to register Complaints related to air pollution.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

• NCAP is flagship program of MoEF&CC to mitigate nationwide air pollution health emergency.
• The announcement of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was made on December 18th 2017 to a reply in the Rajya Sabha by the Minister of Environment Forest Climate Change.
• The government has formulated National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a medium term national level strategy to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner.

Objective

• The overall objective is to augment and evolve effective ambient air quality monitoring network across the country besides ensuring comprehensive management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.
• The NCAP focuses on collaborative and participatory approach covering all sources of pollution and coordination between relevant Central Ministries, State Governments, local bodies and other stakeholders.

Technology Assessment Cell

In order to ensure use of new technologies to combat the rising challenge of air pollution in India, a separate component on ‘Technology Assessment Cell’ has been envisaged under NCAP to evaluate the technologies for  prevention, control and abatement of air pollution

Framework

National Clean Air Programme framework has the following aspects which is the right beginning towards formulating region/state/city centric action plans.

1. The discussion within MoEF&CC signifies a target of 35% reduction of air pollution in the next three years and 50% reduction in the next five years for at-least 100 cities across India.
2. The framework emphasizes on increasing manual monitoring station from 684 to 1000 stations across the country and CAAQMS to 268 from existing 84.
3. Increasing PM2.5 monitoring infrastructure from 67 stations to all NAMP stations (proposed number is 1000)
4. Tackling pollution from various sources across the country, identifies power, transport, industry, residential and agriculture sectors and along with inter-city regional pollution background from areas outside city boundary limits, i.e., interstate approaches
5. Data dissemination to the public, inclusive public participation on planning and implementation for the National Clean Air Programme
6. Setting up of Air Information Center for data analysis, interpretation, dissemination including GIS platforms
7. Envisaging Air Quality Forecasting System as a state of the art modeling system, which forecasts the following day’s air quality.
8. Building up of an updated national emission inventory etc.

The Hindu