The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, (MoEFCC) on March 23, 2023, issued a Press release regarding the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to improve air quality in 24 States/UTs by engaging all stakeholders.
The programme envisages achieving reductions up to 40% or achievement of National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter10 (PM 10) concentrations by 2025-26.
The following Measures are taken to improve air quality under the following heads namely: -
• Vehicular Emission
(i) Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI norms for fuel and vehicles since April 2018 in the NCT of Delhi and from April 01, 2020, for the rest of the country.
(ii) The network of metro rails for public transport is enhanced and more cities are covered.
(iii) Development of expressways and Highways is also reducing fuel consumption and pollution.
(iv) Ban on 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old vehicles in Delhi NCR.
(v) Environment protection charges (EPC) have been imposed on diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000cc and above in Delhi NCR.
(vi) Introduction of cleaner/alternate fuels like CNG, LPG, and ethanol blending in petrol.
(vii) Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) -2 schemes have been rolled out.
(viii)Permit requirement for electric vehicles has been exempted.
(ix) Promotion of public transport and improvements in roads and building of more bridges to ease congestion on roads.
• Industrial Emissions
(i) Ban on the use of pet coke and furnace oil in NCR, use of pet coke in processes in cement plants, lime kilns and calcium carbide manufacturing units.
(ii) Stringent emission norms for Coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs).
(iii) Shifting of industrial units to PNG/cleaner fuel in Delhi
(iv) Installation of online continuous emission monitoring devices in highly polluting industries.
(v) Shifting of brick kilns in Delhi- NCR to zig-zag technology for reduction of pollution
(vi) Notified emission standards for industrial boilers and five industrial sectors i.e. lime kiln, foundry, ceramic, glass and reheating furnaces, in the year 2018.
• Air Pollution due to dust and burning of waste
(i) Notification of 8 waste management rules covering solid waste, plastic waste, e-waste, bio-medical waste, C&D waste, hazardous waste, battery waste and ash generated from thermal power plants.
(ii) Setting up infrastructure such as waste processing plants.
(iii) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for plastic packaging, battery waste, tyre waste and e-waste has been implemented.
(iv) Ban on the burning of biomass/garbage.
Disclaimer: refer to the document to view further details
[Press Release ID 1909910]
