Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo today informed that the Central Government launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country. The Minister said that the programme targets to achieve 20 to 30 per cent reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. Around 102 non-attainment cities have been identified including Delhi and Mumbai, he said in a written reply during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.
The Minister also said that, city-specific Action Plans have been prepared which inter-alia include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc. Ministry also has earmarked 10 crore rupees per city for various components that includes installation and commissioning of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), creating green buffer zone along the roads, mechanical street sweeper, Mobile Enforcement Unit, public awareness and capacity building activities, water sprinkler, he added.
Mr. Supriyo said that for the cities with population, less than five lakhs, funds of 10 lakh rupees per city has been allocated and for cities with a population of 5 to10 lakhs, 20 lakh rupees per city has been allocated for capacity building and public awareness programmes. Further, under NCAP, Committees at state-level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee have been constituted for effective implementation and monitoring.
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