Outdated Laws
The three laws pertaining to air quality governance—the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; the
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (also called “the Air Act”); and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986—have seen little change since enforcement. The last amendment was the Air Act in 1987.
Repeated Ordinances
The Centre passed an Ordinance in October 2020 setting up a new Commission on Air Quality Management in Delhi and
the NCR. It lapsed and was promulgated again in March 2021. It was replaced with a Bill that passed in both Houses in August 2021.
Big Declarations
The Union finance minister said in the budget speech for 2020-21 that grants would be allocated to cities taking measures to ensure cleaner air, which the Centre has initiated. During his Independence Day address in 2020, the Prime Minister announced a new mission on air quality, but no measures have been taken.
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) – It runs under the Central Sector “Control of Pollution” Scheme as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) – Launched in 2018 identifying timelines and implementing agencies for actions identified for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi and NCR.
Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) – It was notified on January 12, 2017, for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution in Delhi and NCR. It identifies graded measures and implementing agencies for response to four AQI categories, namely, Moderate to Poor, Very Poor, Severe and Severe + or Emergency.
SAMEER app – It has been launched wherein air quality information is available to the public along with provision for registering complaints against air polluting activities.
Air pollution kills 7 million people a year, more than COVID-19 and according to several studies, air pollution may reduce the life expectancy of Indians by nine years. To tackle this situation, we need to act fast and together. Strengthening air quality laws and regulations is one key policy action to significantly improve air quality.
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