Question : National Clean Air Programme

(a) whether the Government has announced a number of projects for the improvement of air quality in the country and if so, the details thereof and the progress achieved in the implementation of these projects, State/ UT-wise and city-wise including Ludhiana in Punjab;
(b) the details of the non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), State/ UT-wise;
(c) whether the Government is taking any measures to ensure the implementation of the air quality improvement projects by all the cities in the country and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(d) the detail of action taken for strict control of air quality management in the country;
(e) the detail of suggestion given by the commission for Air Quality Management (caqm) to reduce pollution in the country therefor; and
(f) whether India ranks third in the world in respect to the death due to air pollution and if so, the action taken thereon and time-bound target to improve the air quality in the country in post-covid era?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (f) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019 to tackle the problem of air pollution in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024.132 non-attainments (NACs) and million plus cities including Ludhiana in Punjab are identified and details are given at Annexure I

City Specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared and rolled out for implementation in 132 non-attainments and million plus cities. The city specific Action Plans have been prepared which inter-alia include measures for reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, reducing stubble/bio-mass burning, Solid waste management, construction &demolition waste management, strengthening the monitoring network and increasing public awareness. The details of action plansare available at https://cpcb.nic.in/approved-city-action-plans.

Under NCAP Centre level Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee has been constituted and periodic review of the implementation progress is conducted. Also a State Level Steering Committee and Monitoring Committee Chaired by Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Environment Department respectively and City/ District level Implementation Committee chaired by Municipal Commissioner/ District Magistrate is constituted and periodically review the status of progress of implementation of actions under NCAP. Improvement in air quality is assessed in reference to the base line value defined for the year 2019-20 and achieved values in 2020-21. The detail of comparison values is attached as Annexure – II. Government has taken several steps for mitigation of air pollution and the details are enclosed Annexure-III.

There is no conclusive data available to establish a direct correlation of death/disease exclusively with air pollution. Air pollution is one of the many factors affecting respiratory ailments and associated diseases. Health is impacted by a number of factors which includes food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc., of the individuals apart from the environment.

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