Issue :-
- Despite the worsening air quality in our cities, the government has refrained from specifying pollution-reduction targets in its draft National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
- Even Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier said the programme would aim to reduce pollution in specific cities by “50% in five years.”
NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) :-
- The NCAP was conceived as a detailed strategy to ensure that cities across the country meet specified air quality norms.
- It envisions setting up 1,000 manual air-quality-monitoring stations (a 45% increase from the present number) and 268 automatic stations (triple the current 84).
- For the first time, it plans to set up pollution-monitoring stations in rural areas.
- The NCAP follows from the Environment Ministry’s submissions to the Supreme Court on March 8, 2018.
Objective of NCAP :-
The NCAP aspires to overcome the deficits of the ongoing government initiatives targeted towards air pollution control.
- It lays down a comprehensive strategy framework for enhanced management of air quality. Augmentation of existing air quality monitoring network by increasing number of existing manual and continuous monitoring stations, introducing rural monitoring stations, identifying alternative technology for real-time monitoring network and augmenting capabilities of existing monitoring stations to measure PM2.5 concentration, are integral components of the strategy framework.
- Devising air quality management plans for 100 non-attainment cities calls for detailed source apportionment (identification of pollution sources) studies for each city. The document stresses the need for taking up these studies in a phased manner.
- In addition to setting up of an Air Information Centre that would analyse and disseminate monitored data, an Air Quality Forecasting system is also being envisioned.
- In addition to city-specific source apportionment studies, the NCAP lays down the need for a national-level emission inventory.
- A technology assessment cell for evaluation of new pollution prevention and control technologies has also been proposed.
- The document highlights lack of indigenous studies establishing the correlation between exposure to air pollution and human health. A high-level apex committee and working group has, therefore, been constituted under the Indian Council of Medical Research and the MoEF&CC to overcome this deficit.
- A budget amounting to Rs 637 crore has been set aside for aiding implementation of the programme.
إرسال تعليق