MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a) and (b) The details of pollution level during 2019 in 51 metropolitan cities having million plus population in India is given in Annexure-I.
Under NCAP, 122cities which are consistently exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are identified as non-attainment cities.
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 in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. and
City specific Action Plans have been prepared which is targeting the city specific air polluting sources (vehicular emission, road dust, biomass/crop/garbage/MSW burning, construction activities, industrial emission and other city specific sources).
(c) CPCB doesn’t rank cities on the basis of pollution. However, it is observed that the Air Quality in Delhi has improved. The ‘Good’, ‘Satisfactory’ and ‘Moderate’ days increased to 182 in 2019 in comparison to 108 in 2016 whereas, number of ‘Poor’, ‘Very Poor’ and ‘Severe’ reduced from 246 in 2016 to 183 in 2019.
(d) City specific action plans include the promotion of cycling as non-motorized transportin 31 non-attainment cities viz. Bareilly, Jhansi, Lucknow, Moradabad, Noida, Prayagraj, Raebareli, Varanasi, Dhanbad, Angul, Balasor, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Talcher, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Amravati, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Sangli, Mumbai, Solapur, Vishakhapatnam, Guwahati, Silchar, Nalbari, Nagaon, Sivasagar. Rs. 2 crore has been released to Pune specifically for setting up of bicycle tracks under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Government of India has launched India Cycles 4 Change Challenge as an initiative under Smart Cities Mission to inspire and support Indian cities to implement cycling-friendly initiatives.107 cities registered for the Challenge and are working towards implementing low-cost interventions like pop-up lanes, traffic-calmed streets, community cycle rental schemes, and cycle-training programs.
(e) Government has taken several steps for mitigation of air pollution such as introduction of BS-VI, expansion of Metro, operationalization of Eastern and Western peripheral expressways, shifting of industries to PNG, waste processing plants, online round the clock monitoring of red category industries, etc. The details of initiatives taken by government to combat air pollution is at Annexure –II. Due to the concerted efforts of the Government the air quality in Delhi has observed an improvement.
While the Government is making strenuous efforts to mitigate air pollution, the citizens are requested to extend support for the following activities such as:
• Renew your Pollution Under Control Certificate timely.
• Avoid idling of engines.
• Plan your errands to reduce travel time and trips.
• Adopt clean modes of transport.
• Prefer cycles/ e-bikes for short trips.
• Adopt public transportation wherever feasible.
• Avoid Congested routes. Segregate household waste
• Never burn waste
• Take recyclable waste to collection centres & earn from waste too
• Compost leaves and garden waste
• Avoid vigorous sweeping of leaves in gardens/ parks – use wide rakes
• Dispose e-waste responsibly.
• Adopt green good deeds and encourage others too.
• Use public grievance redressal apps to inform air polluting activities to authorities
• Share about ongoing clean initiatives with others
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