The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). The NCAP is a pollution control initiative which aims to reduce the concentration of particles (PM2.5 and PM10) by 20 to 30 per cent by 2024. The year 2017 will be taken as the base year for comparison and 2019 will be the first year. It will be implemented in 102 Indian cities and these cities will be chosen on the basis of WHO report 2014-2018 and Ambient Air Quality India report (2011-2015).
National Clean Air Programme is not legally binding. Its objectives include: a) Augmentation and strengthening of air quality monitoring network across the country. B) Implementation of mitigation measures for control, prevention, and abatement of air pollution. C) Application of capacity building measures and public awareness.
Significance of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is a first such effort of its kind. It is different because it has framed a national framework for air quality management with a time bound reduction target, which is quite ambitious. It has a multi sectoral collaboration and participatory approach. It has tried to incorporate measures for both rural and urban areas.
Implementation of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
National Clean Air Programme execution is on The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which will conduct nationwide programmes for the control, prevention and abetment of air pollution within the framework of the NCAP. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is a statutory organization constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 and CPCB functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Clean air is the demand of the situation right now as India features very high on the list of degrading air quality. The National Clean Air Programme or NCAP is a small step towards this direction. It is expected that in the future more concrete steps will be taken to improve the quality of the air.
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