India News | Fall in PM10 Level in 96 of 132 Non-attainment Cities Under NCAP: Govt
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Out of the 132 non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), the level of pollutant PM10 has decreased in 96 cities in 2020-2021 as compared to 2019-2020, the government told the Parliament.
New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Out of the 132 non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Program (NCAP), the level of pollutant PM10 has decreased in 96 cities in 2020-2021 as compared to 2019-2020, the government told the Parliament.
Responding to a query on the increasing pollution level in various urban areas across the country, Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Choubey said on Monday that in the remaining 36 cities, ambient air quality data showed an increasing trend in the level of PM10.
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He also said the number of cities found to be within the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standard (PM10 less than 60 µg/m3) has increased from 18 in 2019-20 to 27 in 2020-21.
"In the year 2020, in Delhi, the number of 'Good', 'Satisfactory' and 'Moderate' days increased to 227 against 108 in 2016," he said in the written response.
An Air Quality Index (AQI) between zero and 50 is considered ''good'', 51 and 100 ''satisfactory'', 101 and 200 ''moderate'', 201 and 300 ''poor'', 301 and 400 ''very poor'', and 401 and 500 ''severe''.
The government had launched NCAP as a national-level strategy to reduce air pollution levels across the country. City-specific action plans have been prepared for the identified 132 non-attainment and million-plus (population) cities and rolled out for implementation.
"These action plans focus on city-specific short/ medium/ long-term actions to control air pollution from sources such as vehicular emissions, road dust, burning of biomass/ municipal solid waste, construction activities, industrial emissions, etc," the minister said.
Elaborating further, the government told the lower house that a National Knowledge Network (NKN) has been constituted under the NCAP with a vision to build local technical capacities.
"Major universities such as IITs, NITs and other academic institutions are an integral part of this network. Institutes of Reputes (IoRs) have been identified for every state with non-attainment cities to carry out air quality management research and provide technical support to States for improving air quality.
"States (State Pollution Control Boards/ Committees and Urban Local Bodies) have signed Memorandum of Understanding with identified IoRs for implementation of various air quality management activities," the government said.
On another query, whether the government has any proposal for people who have poor access to basic service and no social security and are exposed to climate and proportionately affected by a changing climate, the minister said climate change is a global collective action problem and requires the cooperation of all nations based on the principle of 'Equity' and in accordance with 'Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities'.
"India is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol (KP) and the Paris Agreement (PA).
"India submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to UNFCCC in 2015 which inter-alia includes reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level; to achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 with the help of the transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF); and to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030," it said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)