New Delhi: Surat has been ranked as the top major city in India for air quality improvements followed by Jabalpur and Agra. The Union Environment Ministry presented the “National Clean Air City” Awards during the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 held at a national workshop celebrating the “International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies” in Jaipur on Saturday (September 7). While Surat, Jabalpur and Agra secured the top three positions among cities with population of over 10 lakh, Firozabad (UP), Amravati (Maharashtra) and Jhansi (UP) were recognized as the best among cities with population between three lakh and 10 lakh.
Raebareli (UP), Nalgonda (Telangana) and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh) topped the list among the cities with populations under three lakh.
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“Swachh Vayu Survekshan” is an initiative by the ministry to rank cities based on the implementation of activities approved under the city action plan and air quality in cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
These cities were awarded for significant improvements in air quality through various best practices to reduce air pollution. Key activities included paving roads, promoting mechanical sweeping, bioremediation of legacy waste, solid waste management, converting reclaimed land from dumpsites into green spaces, greenbelt development, intelligent traffic management systems and Miyawaki afforestation.
India launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 with a target to reduce particulate pollution by 20-30 per cent by 2024 using 2017 as the base year. The target was later revised to a 40 per cent reduction by 2026 using 2019-20 as the base year.
The programme currently covers only 131 non-attainment cities — those which consistently failed to meet national ambient air quality standards between 2011 and 2015.
Also Read: Air Pollution Accounted For 8.1 Million Deaths Globally In 2021: Report
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
