What are the key features of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) initiated by the government of India?. (UPSC IAS Mains 2020 General Studies Paper – 3)
National Clean Air Programme is a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target. The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year.
Features of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
- To achieve a national-level target of 20-30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024, keeping 2017 as base year.
- Under NCAP, 122 non-attainment cities have been identified across the country based on the Air Quality data from 2014-2018.
- The city specific action plans have been prepared which, inter-alia, include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc.
- Implementation of the city specific action plans are regularly monitored by Committees at Central and State level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee.
- Air quality of cities is monitored by State Pollution Control Boards which publishes their results from time to time. Some Smart Cities have established Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) which are also connected to Air Quality Monitors (AQMs) for effective monitoring.
- It also proposes state-level plans of e-mobility in the two-wheeler sector along with rapid augmentation of charging infrastructure, stringent implementation of BS-VI norms, boosting public transportation system, and adoption of third-party audits for polluting industries.
- To attain its desired objectives, NCAP follows the approach of Collaborative, Multi-scale and Cross-Sectoral Coordination between relevant Central Ministries, State Government and local bodies.
NCAP is envisaged to be dynamic although the targets appear less ambitious. However, it is expected to evolve based on the additional scientific and technical information.
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