After missing several deadlines, much-awaited Rs 300-crore National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was finally unveiled on Thursday focusing on 102 cities beginning with “modest target” of reduction of 20 to 30 per cent in particulate matter (PM) by 2024 with 2017 as the base year.
The 102 cities under NCAP that include Chandigarh, nine cities from Punjab, Delhi, seven from Himachal Pradesh, two from Jammu & Kashmir and two from Uttarakhand are those which did not meet the annual national standards of clean air from 2011 to 2015.
Taking into account the available international experiences and national studies, the tentative national level target of 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration, said Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan after the release of the plan at an event here.
“Overall objective of the NCAP is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities,” the Minister added.
The NCAP, a nation-wide pollution abatement step, will focus on 102 polluted cities with a budget of Rs 300 crore for financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20 — about Rs 2.9 crore per city.
Under the programme, the Government will set up a national inventory, issue guidelines for indoor air pollution, expand air quality monitoring network in cities and in rural areas and conduct air pollution health impact studies.
CK Mishra, Union Environment Secretary added, “Our plans to combat air pollution have been NCR-centric so far, but with launch of the NCAP we have tried to reach out to different parts of the country.”
CEO NITI Aayog , Amitabh Kant termed the NCAP as ‘a path breaking initiative’ and one of the most critical and most significant programme as it addresses one of the most alarming challenges of urbanisation i.e. air pollution.
“Today cities occupy just 3 per cent of the land, but contribute to 82 per cent of GDP and responsible for 78 per cent of Carbon dioxide emissions; cities though are engines of growth and equity but they have to be sustainable and it is in this context that NCAP being a very inclusive program holds special relevance,” Kant said.
However, green activists like Sunil Dahiya, senior campaigner with Greenpeace India expressed doubt on its success, saying that the “NCAP is not backed with a strong legal mandate and clear accountabilities, implementing it on the ground will be a big challenge”.
Nevertheless, the NGO added that, considering the level of India’s air quality, the fact that our country now has an action plan to combat air pollution is worth celebrating.