{"id":41563,"date":"2025-10-27T01:42:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T20:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=41563"},"modified":"2025-10-29T13:41:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T08:11:14","slug":"govt-to-review-clean-air-action-plan-of-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/govt-to-review-clean-air-action-plan-of-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt to Review Clean Air Action Plan of Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in the News?<\/li>\n<li>About National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)<\/li>\n<li>Progress &amp; Challenges of NCAP<\/li>\n<li>News Summary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in the News?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The review of air quality improvement action plans of 131 cities is likely to be held by the Government this month as part of the Centre\u2019s 100-day agenda.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/national-clean-air-programme-ncap\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)<\/a> is a comprehensive initiative launched by the Government of India to tackle the pressing issue of air pollution across the country.<\/li>\n<li>Initiated in <strong>January 2019<\/strong> by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), <strong>NCAP aims to systematically reduce air pollution levels and improve air quality through a multi-pronged approach<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objectives<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>The primary objective of NCAP is to achieve a <strong>40% reduction in particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) concentrations by 2026<\/strong>, taking 2017 as the base year.<\/li>\n<li>The program targets both short-term and long-term measures to mitigate air pollution across various sectors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key Features<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>City-Specific Plans<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>NCAP focuses on <strong>131 non-attainment cities identified by the <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/central-pollution-control-board\/\" target=\"_blank\">Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)<\/a><strong>, where air quality standards have consistently been exceeded<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Each city has developed customized action plans that address local sources of pollution, such as vehicular emissions, industrial discharges, dust from construction activities, and waste burning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Monitoring and Enforcement<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Strengthening the existing air quality monitoring network with the addition of more monitoring stations and sensors to provide real-time data.<\/li>\n<li>Enhancing enforcement of air quality regulations and ensuring strict compliance with emission norms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Public Awareness and Participation<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Conducting awareness campaigns to educate citizens about the health impacts of air pollution and promoting community participation in pollution control activities.<\/li>\n<li>Encouraging the adoption of cleaner technologies and practices by industries, businesses, and households.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inter-Agency Coordination<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Facilitating coordination between various government departments, including transport, urban development, agriculture, and power, to implement integrated pollution control measures.<\/li>\n<li>Establishing inter-ministerial task forces and committees to oversee the implementation and progress of the NCAP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Technological and Financial Support<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Promoting the adoption of clean technologies through financial incentives and subsidies.<\/li>\n<li>Allocating funds to states and municipalities to support the implementation of their respective action plans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Research and Development<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Encouraging scientific research to develop innovative solutions for air pollution control.<\/li>\n<li>Collaborating with academic institutions and research organizations to study the sources and health impacts of air pollution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>PRANA (Portal for Regulation of Air-pollution in Non-Attainment Cities)<\/strong>, is a portal for monitoring of implementation of NCAP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Progress &amp; Challenges of NCAP<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Air Information Centers and Pollution Forecasting:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Goal:<\/strong> Establish air information centres at central and regional levels by 2020.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Status:<\/strong> Only the central PRANA portal by CPCB is functional.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Goal:<\/strong> Implement air pollution forecasting systems in non-attainment cities by 2022.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Status:<\/strong> Only Delhi has a functional system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Committee Setup and Utilization of Funds:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Committees:<\/strong> Proposed at various levels, but issues remain with functionality, transparency, and public information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fund Utilization:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Of \u20b91,253 crore allocated to 82 non-attainment cities, only \u20b9498 crore (40%) was used.<\/li>\n<li>Of \u20b99,610 crore allocated to 49 million-plus cities, \u20b95,909 crore (62%) was utilized, indicating significant underutilization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Monitoring Stations:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Goal:<\/strong> Increase manual monitoring stations under NAMP from 703 to 1,500 by 2024.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Status:<\/strong> Only 931 manual stations operational, showing a critical shortfall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Goal:<\/strong> Establish 150 stations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Status:<\/strong> 531 stations are operational, indicating very good progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rural Monitoring Network:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Current:<\/strong> 26 manual stations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Goal:<\/strong> Set up 100 stations by 2024.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Status:<\/strong> Full realization of this goal seems difficult.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Source Apportionment:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Only 44 out of 131 non-attainment cities conducted source apportionment studies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Data Availability and Compliance:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Data Availability:<\/strong> 227 cities had over 75% data availability days in 2023, with 85 under NCAP and 142 not covered by NCAP.<\/li>\n<li><strong>PM10 Levels:<\/strong> 78 NCAP cities and 118 non-NCAP cities exceeded National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>News Summary<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The review of air quality improvement action plans of 131 cities is likely to be held by the Government this month as part of the Centre\u2019s 100-day agenda.<\/li>\n<li>While one meeting of the NCAP monitoring committee to review progress in 82 cities took place earlier this month.<\/li>\n<li>Another meeting of the NCAP steering committee will be chaired by the secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC) next week.<\/li>\n<li>The upcoming meeting will review the actions taken by city administrations in key areas like dust control, electric vehicle charging stations, public transport improvement, waste management, and urban greening.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Ministry&#8217;s review aims to ensure quick utilization of funds, especially as the National Green Tribunal scrutinizes the NCAP for unused funds<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Submissions to the tribunal revealed that <strong>many cities spent funds on non-essential projects such as football grounds, water fountains, and desludging machines<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Q1.How is AQI calculated?<\/h2>\n<p>The AQI is calculated by converting measured pollutant concentrations to a uniform index which is based on the health effects associated with a pollutant. The health benchmarks used for calculating the AQI are pollutant specific and are established by the EPA through the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.<\/p>\n<h2>Q2. What is PM2.5 and why is it so harmful?<\/h2>\n<p>Fine particles in the air (measured as PM2.5) are so small that they can travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs, causing short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/govt-to-review-clean-air-action-plan-of-cities-to-ensure-fast-track-use-of-funds-9457866\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Govt to review clean air action plan of cities, to ensure fast-track use of funds<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/energyandcleanair.org\/publication\/tracing-the-hazy-air-2024-progress-report-on-national-clean-air-programme-ncap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Energy and Clean Air<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Clean Air Programme was to tackle the pressing issue of air pollution across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":41564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}