On 7th September 2024, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav chaired the 4th meeting of the Apex Committee of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in Jaipur, marking the occasion of Swachh Vayu Diwas (International Day of Clean Air for blue skies). The meeting focused on reviewing efforts to improve air quality across 24 States/UTs and 131 cities. Shri Sanjay Sharma, Rajasthan’s State Minister of Environment and Climate Change, also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, the committee shared that Rs. 19,612 crore has been allocated to help cities implement their clean air action plans between 2019-2026. Out of this, Rs. 11,211 crore has already been given to these cities to help them reduce air pollution. The goal is to cut PM10 levels by 40% or meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) by 2025-2026. Actions taken to reduce pollution include better road dust control, improving waste management, expanding green urban spaces, and reducing industrial and vehicle emissions.
Minister Bhupender Yadav highlighted the success of the Nagar Van Yojana, which has created 3,776 hectares of green spaces in 64 cities. He urged the remaining cities to use the resources available through this scheme to develop their own green spaces. The Minister congratulated nine cities that performed exceptionally well in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan survey, which measures air quality improvement efforts.
The Minister praised the hard work of all participants in the NCAP. He shared that air quality has improved in 95 cities, and 18 cities have already met the PM10 standards set for 2023-2024. He added that 51 cities have reduced their PM10 levels by 20%, and 21 cities have already achieved a 40% reduction.
Shri Bhupender Yadav also mentioned the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign, which involves large-scale tree-planting efforts in 131 cities. This initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the global push for greener cities. Minister Yadav advised all States and UTs to coordinate with both Central and State Government schemes to tackle air pollution more effectively. He also talked about setting up a Coordinating Mechanism to address the movement of air pollution across states in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region, which includes eight States/UTs.
He urged cities to update their clean air action plans and to focus on reforms in waste management, including better handling of solid waste, plastic waste, construction and demolition waste (C&D waste), e-waste, and reducing vehicular pollution. He also emphasized the importance of raising public awareness about air quality issues, to ensure that everyone can breathe cleaner air.
During the meeting, several Union Ministries shared their progress in reducing pollution. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs presented its work in 131 cities through programs like the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, AMRUT, the Smart City Mission, and the PM e-bus Sewa. These programs focus on urban mobility, improving solid waste processing, C&D waste management, cleaning up old waste sites, and creating parks and green spaces. They have also helped cities purchase electric buses to cut down on pollution.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas talked about expanding the CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) network to reduce pollution caused by vehicles. They also discussed the SATAT Scheme, which aims to produce CNG from biomass to offer cleaner fuel alternatives. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways explained its efforts to phase out old, polluting vehicles through its vehicle scrapping policy, which includes building automated testing stations and vehicle scrapping facilities.
The Ministry of Power shared updates on how thermal power plants are using biomass as a fuel source to reduce pollution from burning biomass in the open.
City representatives from Surat, Firozabad, and Raebareli—three of the top-performing cities in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan—shared their success stories on how they have tackled air pollution in their regions.
The meeting saw the participation of Sudhansh Pant, Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, Tanmay Kumar, Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and many senior officials from MoEFCC, CAQM, and pollution control boards from 24 States/UTs.
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