Context
Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organized 3rd International Day of Clean Air for blue skies as ‘Swachh Vayu Diwas (“Swachh Vayu Neel Gagan”)’ to raise awareness and facilitate actions to improve air quality under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
About the Day
- The United Nations General Assembly during its 74th session in 2019 adopted a resolution to hold an International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on September 7.
- The resolution also prompted the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to promote the day’s observance in collaboration with other appropriate stakeholders.
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Theme of the third International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies is the 'Air We Share'.
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- All the member countries are hosted by the United Nations to commemorate the International Day of Clear Air for Blue Skies.
- It also highlights the need for immediate and strategic international and regional cooperation for more efficient implementation of mitigation policies and actions to tackle air pollution.
Key-Findings of NCAP
- Ninety-five of these 131 cities have shown air quality improvement.
- Varanasi recorded the most marked improvement — of 53% — in air quality levels.
- Varanasi had an annual average concentration of PM10 of 244 in 2017, which dropped to 144 in 2021.
- PM10 for all metropolitan cities, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, have shown significant improvement in air quality in 2021-22 compared to 2017.
- Other major cities to have shown an improvement include Noida, Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Guwahati, etc.
- But 27 cities have shown a deterioration in air quality over the same period.
- Among them is Korba — the district in Chhattisgarh houses 10 thermal coal power plants.
- Among states, Madhya Pradesh has been the poorest performer, as six of seven cities from the state selected by the Centre for NCAP have shown a deterioration in air quality.
- These are Bhopal, Dewas, Indore, Jabalpur, Sagar, Ujjain and Gwalior.
- Howrah and Durgapur in West Bengal, Aurangabad and Thane in Maharashtra, Gaya in Bihar, Rajkot and Vadodara in Gujarat, Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Patiala (Punjab) and Jammu, among others, have also shown a worsening of air quality.
About National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
- It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019.
- It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target.
- It seeks to cut the concentration of coarse (particulate matter of diameter 10 micrometer or less, or PM10) and fine particles (particulate matter of diameter 2.5 micrometer or less, or PM2.5) by at least 20% in the next five years, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.
- The plan includes 102 non-attainment cities, across 23 states and Union territories, which were identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the basis of their ambient air quality data between 2011 and 2015.
- Non-attainment cities: These are those that have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for over five years.
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