Centre brings Comprehensive Action Plan to get rid of pollution
NEW DELHI: Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) is a plan made by the Union government as per the direction by the Supreme Court of India to formulate a plan to fight the air pollution in a systemic way. This plan will be implemented throughout the year and it has various ways to fight the pollution but this is not an emergency plan but a way to get rid of pollution with time.
"The CAP has no contradiction with the Graded Response Action Plan. The GRAP is an emergency plan which comes into play in the time of high level of pollution between October 15 and March 15. We should not confuse both these plans. The Supreme Court observed that the pollution situation needs a systemic change hence they directed the Centre to come up with a systemic plan to combat air pollution," Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director of Center for Science and Environment told the Millennium Post.
She added that the CAP is based on the concerns of the GRAP and basic idea would be the same hence it includes, air pollution management, parking issues, regulations on the thermal power plans and industries and transport system is a major focus.
“Pollution is a major phenomenon in India and the emergency plan should be there. But similarly, we should try to overcome any situation where the emergency plan is required thereafter the CAP which will implement some rules for the authorities. These rules should be maintained throughout the year," she said.
Roy Chowdhury explained that the last year the Supreme Court directed the EPCA to come
up with an emergency plan which is the GRAP and the effects of the GRAP were satisfactory. “The last year after the implementation of the GRAP we got better days than the previous one and I hope that this year it would be much better," she said.
Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana have reported many crop burning incidents. The Delhi government has urged the respective state governments to control the burning of crops but the governments along with the Centre are yet to respond. "The crop burning started but it would be too early to talk about the effect of it because it would be understood at the end of October when the burning will reach the top and then we can predict the condition,” said Roy Chowdhury.
However, the Delhi government has threatened that if the Centre and the neighbouring states do not come up with any proper plan to stop stubble burning then the Delhi government will move court against the authorities.