Proposed Draft National Clean Air Programme

The National clean air programme NCAP was conceived as a detailed strategy to ensure that cities across the country meet specified air quality norms.

The features of the proposed National clean air programme: 

• For the first time, it plans to set up pollution-monitoring stations in rural areas.
• It envisions setting up 1,000 manual air-quality-monitoring stations (a 45% increase from the present number) and 268 automatic stations (triple the current 84).
• It aims to strengthen the National Clean Air Programme in around 100 non-attainment cities where parameters (of air quality) are not right and require attention.

The ministry hopes to bring down pollution in these cities by 35 per cent and in the next five years by 50 per cent

The NCAP follows from the Environment Ministry’s submissions to the Supreme Court where it had submitted in the court that it was taking steps to address air pollution not only in Delhi but in around 100 cities.

Criticisms

• The NCAP is drawing criticisms from the environmentalists and other quarters for not specifying pollution-reduction targets in its draft National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
• Environment activists said the omission of targets was surprising given that they were deliberated upon in ministerial discussions last year when the NCAP was being gestated. [The Hindu]