National Clean Air
Programme revamped
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to modify the
National Clean Air Programme. They have proposed to reduce the air pollution
20-30 per cent by 2024. Recently, Delhi has received the first
allotted funds of Rs 18 crore for attaining this target by 2024.
About NCAP:
It was launched by MoEFCC in January 2019 and
was a pioneering effort in the country to frame a national framework for air
quality management with a time-bound reduction target. It aims to reduce the concentration
of coarse (particulate matter of diameter 10 micrometer or less,
or PM10) and fine particles (particulate matter of diameter 2.5
micrometers or less, or PM2.5) by at least 20% in the next five
years, with 2017 as the base year for comparison. The plan also
included 102 non-attainment cities, across 23 States and Union
territories, which were identified by the Central Pollution Control Board
(CPCB) based on their ambient air quality data between 2011 and 2015.
Non-attainment cities: These are those that have
fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for over
five years.
NGT’s comments:
·
Right
to Clean Air stood recognized as part of Right to Life and
failure to address air pollution was the denial of Right to Life under Article
21.
·
The
enforcement of the ‘Sustainable Development’ principle and ‘Public Trust
Doctrine’ required stringent measures to be adopted to give effect to the
mandate of international obligations for which the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986 and other laws had been enacted.
NGT’s Directives:
·
The timeline to
reduce air pollution by 20-30% by 2024 needs to be reduced.
·
The
current target of 20-30% air pollution reduction should be increased.
·
Make
intensive plans to shift to e-Vehicles and CNG vehicles. Also, promote public
transport system, better clean roads and walkways, fuel quality upgrade,
traffic management in cities to reduce pollution and congestion.
·
State
Pollution Control Boards to ensure assessment and installation of the
requisite number of real-time online continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring
Systems within six months.
·
The
Central Pollution Control Board to set up an expert team to design a
model for source apportionment and carrying capacity assessment within two
months which may be replicated for all the non-attainment cities.
ü Source Apportionment: It is the practice of deriving
information about pollution sources and the amount they contribute to ambient
air pollution levels.
ü Carrying Capacity: The concept of ‘carrying
capacity’ addresses the question as to how many people can be permitted into
any area without the risk of degrading the environment there.
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