Rs 300 Crore National Program Launched To Reduce Air Pollution In 102 Cities By Up To 30 Per Cent Over Next 5 years

The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was officially launched on Thursday (10 January 2019) to provide the Centre and states with a framework to curb air pollution; the Rs 300 crore programme envisages reducing particulate matter (PM) pollution by around 20-30 per cent in at least 102 cities till 2024, reports The Hindu.

“This is our war against pollution across the length and breadth of the country,” stated a senior Union Environment Ministry official A K Jain.

The scheme is intended to make combating pollution the centre of future development goals.

Secretary of the Union Environment Ministry C K Mishra explained, “The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. This is not a pan-India, but a city-specific programme.”

Last year, 102 cities were identified as pollution hotspots and were directed to submit a plan to resolve their pollution problems. These plans included proposals such as increasing the number of monitoring stations, technology support, strengthened enforcement, etc.

The NCAP targets will need to be met by these cities keeping the average PM levels in 2017 as the base year average.

The programme comes into place at a much needed time, as a recent study showed that 14 of the 15 most polluted cities on Earth were in India.

Under the NCAP, particular deadlines will be given to cities to implement specific measures like ensuring within 60 days that all roads are pothole-free so that the resultant dust is reduced and cracking down on illegal brick kilns within 30 days.