New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi is working for the central government to devise a plan detailing what action should be taken and at what time for controlling air pollution in the city. IIT Delhi, which has a Centre of Excellence for Research on Clean Air, to take up research to study air pollution issues in Delhi-NCR region, is working closely with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in this regard. Mukesh Khare, Professor of Environmental Engineering at IIT Delhi, who is leading the evaluation team, said to PTI,
Round the year, several initiatives are taken to deal with the problem of air pollution, including ban on construction activities, burning of crackers and restriction of outdoor activities in schools, to name a few. However, what is not realised is that suddenly suspending construction activities when air quality has already deteriorated to a certain level does not help much.
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He further added, “So, it is more advisable to implement the measures beforehand. We are evaluating what should be the timing of what action regarding dealing with air pollution so there is a calendar sort of for the entire year.”
According to Mr. Khare, the need for evaluating the timing of the actions was felt a few weeks after the launch of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) last year. NCAP is a mid-term, five-year action plan that includes collaborative, multi-scale and cross-sectoral coordination between relevant central ministries, state governments, and local bodies. He said,
The overall objective of initiatives to combat air pollution 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.
Mr. Kgare added, “While city-specific action plans are being formulated for 102 non-attainment cities identified for implementing mitigation actions under NCAP, the timing of the actions which needs to be in advance rather than damage control is a grey area which needs to be addressed.”
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
