India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), a time bound national level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner.
The NCAP proposes a 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024, taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. This tentative national level target is based on available international experience and national studies, according to the Union Environment Minister.
“Collaborative and participatory approach involving relevant Central Ministries, State Governments, local bodies and other Stakeholders with focus on all sources of pollution forms the crux of the Programme.” said the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. “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.”
CEO NITI Aayog , Amitabh Kant who was also present at the launch said that NCAP addresses one of the most alarming challenges of urbanisation i.e. air pollution. “Today cities occupy just 3% of the land, but contribute to 82% of GDP and responsible for 78% 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.” said Kant.
The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. However, international experience and national studies indicate that significant outcome in terms of air pollution initiatives are visible only in the long-term, and hence the programme may be further extended to a longer time horizon after a mid-term review of the outcomes. The approach for NCAP includes collaborative, multi-scale and cross-sectoral coordination between the relevant central ministries, state governments and local bodies. Dovetailing of the existing policies and programmes including the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and other initiatives of Government of India in reference to climate change will be done while execution of NCAP.
The Government’s Smart Cities program will be used to launch the NCAP in the 43 smart cities falling in the list of the 102 non-attainment cities. The NCAP is envisaged to be dynamic and will continue to evolve based on the additional scientific and technical information. The NCAP will be institutionalized by respective ministries and will be organized through inter-sectoral groups, which include, Ministry of Road Transport and Highway, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, NITI Aayog, CPCB, experts from the industry, academia, and civil society. The program will partner with multilateral and bilateral international organizations, and philanthropic foundations and leading technical institutions to achieve its outcomes.
City specific action plans are being formulated for 102 non-attainment cities identified for implementing mitigation actions under NCAP. Cities have already prepared action plans in consultation with CPCB. Institutional Framework at Centre and State Level comprising of Apex Committee at the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change in the Centre and at Chief Secretary Level in the States are to be constituted.
In addition, sectoral working groups, national level Project Monitoring Unit, Project Implementation Unit, state level project monitoring unit, city level review committee under the Municipal Commissioner and DM level Committee in the Districts are to be constituted under NCAP for effective implementation and success of the Programme.
Other features of NCAP include, increasing number of monitoring stations in the country including rural monitoring stations, technology support, emphasis on awareness and capacity building initiatives, setting up of certification agencies for monitoring equipment, source apportionment studies, emphasis on enforcement, specific sectoral interventions etc.
The launch ceremony was attended by more than 150 participants representing central and state governments, industries, national & international organizations, Universities and research institutes from across the country.
Non-Attainment cities with respect to Ambient Air Quality India (2011–2015) and WHO report 2014/2018
1. Andhra Pradesh — Guntur, Kurnool, Nellore, Vijaywada, Vishakhapatnam
2. Assam — Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sibsagar, Silchar
3. Chandigarh — Chandigarh
4. Chattisgarh — Bhillai, Korba, Raipur
5. Delhi — Delhi
6. Gujarat — Surat, Ahmedabad
7. Himachal Pradesh — Baddi, Damtal, Kala Amb, Nalagarh, Paonta Sahib, Parwanoo, Sunder Nagar
8. Jammu & Kashmir — Jammu, Srinagar
9. Jharkhand — Dhanbad
10. Karnataka — Bangalore, Devanagere, Gulburga, Hubli-Dharwad
11. Madhya Pradesh — Bhopal, Dewas, Indore, Sagar, Ujjain, Gwalior
12. Maharashtra — Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad, Badlapur, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Sangli, Solapur, Ulhasnagar
13. Meghalaya — Byrnihat
14. Nagaland — Dimapur, Kohima
15. Orissa — Angul, Balasore, Bhubneshwar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Talcher
16. Punjab — DeraBassi, Gobindgarh, Jalandhar, Khanna, Ludhiana, NayaNangal, Pathankot/Dera Baba, Patiala, Amritsar
17. Rajasthan — Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur
18. Tamilnadu — Tuticorin
19. Telangana — Hydrabad, Nalgonda, Patencheru
20. Uttar Pradesh — Agra, Allahabad, Anpara, Bareily, Firozabad, Gajraula, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Kanpur, Khurja, Lucknow, Muradabad, Noida, Raebareli, Varanasi
21. Uttarakhand — Kashipur, Rishikesh
22. West Bengal — Kolkata
23. Bihar — Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur
