A Toothless Tiger – Government Launches National Clean Air Programme

Experts are working tirelessly on finding ways to get the Government of India work on eradicating pollution from the country. However, it seems like the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is just a paper tiger without any time-bound targets.  

Air pollution in India is one of the biggest challenges as of today. A time-bound national level strategy for Pan India implementation in the form of NCAP was launched earlier this year. The idea of the programme is to tackle the increasing air pollution issue across the country. NCAP was launched by the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi.

National Clean Air Programme Promises: 

The tentative national target of the NCAP is the reduction of PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentration by 2024. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “Collaborative and participatory approach involving relevant Central Ministries, State Governments, local bodies and other Stakeholders with focus on all sources of pollution forms the crux of the Programme. The overall objective of the NCAP is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control, and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.”

The launch ceremony was attended by more than 150 participants representing central and state governments, industries, national & international organizations, Universities and research institutes from across the country.

The list of 102 cities chosen for this intervention is as follows:

But there is a loophole on the National Clean Air Programme!

“International experiences and national studies indicate that significant outcome in terms of air pollution initiatives is visible only in the long term, and hence the program may be further extended to 20-25 years in the long term after a mid-term review…,” the document states. 

However, due to the lack of clear timelines and monitoring methods has the experts worried. It has been over a year and a half that the NCAP is announced and there is no annual or mid-term target, apparently a mid-term review will be carried out in 2024.

Sunil Dahiya, Campaigner, Greenpeace India said “The first and foremost priority for the ministry should be to set time-bound emission targets to reduce air pollution. NCAP is the ultimate framework to ensure compliance to their commitment towards tackling air pollution from the source. Missing of emission as well as sectoral targets is making NCAP not only redundant but pointless.”

[Watch] How the Government announced NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) that has no financial or legal support making it a toothless tiger.

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