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Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav took stock of the implementation of National, State and City clean air action plans implemented in 24 States and Union Territories and 131 cities in the fourth meet of Apex Committee of National Clean Air Programme.
The Minister reviewed the plans on the occasion of Swachh Vayu Diwas (International Day of Clean Air for blue skies) in Jaipur on September 7. Under this programme, a performance-based grant of Rs 19,612 crore has been allocated to 131 cities for implementation of city action plans from 2019-20 to 2025-26. So far, Rs 11,211 crore has been assigned to these cities to achieve the targets of 40 per cent reduction or achieving National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in PM10 levels by 2025-26. Improvement measures in these cities in sectors of road dust, vehicular pollution, waste management, greening of urban spaces and industrial pollution were presented in the meeting. Bhupender Yadav emphasised on the creation of 3776 hectares of Nagar Van/Vatikas under Nagar Van Yojana of MoEFCC in 64 cities of NCAP with the sanctioned amount of Rs 142 crores and urged cities to use resources under the scheme to develop green spaces. He hailed nine better performing cities under Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan for utilising resources from Central and State government schemes/programmes and for scientifically addressing the air pollution reduction steps. The minister also praised the efforts made by all stakeholders for improving air quality in these cities meeting National Ambient Air Quality Standards in PM10 levels in 2023-24. Informing about 51 cities having achieved 20 per cent reduction , Yadav said 21 cities have managed 40 per cent reduction in PM10 levels. The Minister also commended large scale tree plantation drives conducted in 131 cities under 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam', an initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He asked all States/UTs to converge Central and State government schemes/programmes and stressed their importance to address air pollution. Yadav also suggested to set up a Coordinating Mechanism to monitor transboundary movement of air pollution in Indo-Gangetic Plain region comprising eight States/UTs. Yadav urged all cities to upgrade the clean action plans on 100 per cent saturation basis and Mission LiFE actions. He also called for reforms in areas of waste management especially solid waste, plastic waste, C&D waste, e-waste, vehicular pollution and public awareness. Several union ministries also presented progress and convergence reports of schemes implemented in 131 cities. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs apprised about the activities undertaken viz. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, AMRUT, Smart City Mission and PM e-bus Sewa. The activities relate to urban mobility, processing of solid waste and Construction & Demolition, remediation of legacy waste, mechanical road sweeping, creation of parks and green spaces, and procurement of electric buses. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gases presented status report of city gas distribution network and its plans for expansion of CNG stations and PNG connections to provide clean fuel, initiatives under SATAT Scheme to generate CNG from biomass in order to reduce air pollution. In a series of schemes presentation by various ministries, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways highlighted the implementation of vehicle scrapping policy targeting for phase-out of vehicles, creation of automated testing stations and vehicle scrapping facilities. Ministry of Power briefed about use of thermal power plants to reduce biomass burning. Municipal Commissioners of best performing cities under Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan namely Surat, Firozabad and Raebareli gave an account of dealing effectively with air pollution. (ANI)
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