‘We brought ordinance to combat pollution in NCR’
NEW DELHI: With the spectre of air pollution once again haunting the Capital as stubble burning starts in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, the Centre is hoping the situation this year will not be as bad as previous years.
In an interview with
Soumya Pillai and Jayasharee Nandi,
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said the new agency to curb bad air in NCR, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), will take its remit seriously and also give legal status to the regional airshed (area affected by similar meteorology and topography that restrict the dispersion of pollutants). Edited excerpts:
How prepared is the government this year to tackle winter pollution? You have had several meetings with state governments, what is the feedback you got and what is your assessment?
The most important step that our government has taken is the ordinance to monitor and control air pollution in the national capital region.
And the agency that has been created through this ordinance, CAQM, is doing its work effectively.
To solve Delhi’s air pollution problem, legal status needed to be given to the (regional) airshed. This happened through the ordinance.
Several measures have been taken by the government to manage the primary pollution sources in the region, including vehicles, industries, construction etc. To maintain transparency in pollution data, we have also launched an online portal called PRANA (Portal for Regulation of Air-Pollution in Non-Attainment Cities), which is a platform that provides information on how cities are curbing pollution levels and historical data on air pollution mitigation milestones achieved since 2018.
While pollution control is the government’s job, it is also a matter that concerns the public and there needs to be a joint responsibility.
Will you be able to reduce stubble fires this year?
We started working around mitigation measures to control stubble burning in July.
The ministries of agriculture and animal husbandry, the Central Pollution Control Board, and our task force have worked together. We also monitored the work that has happened in various states to reduce incidents of stubble burning, and we saw that state governments also took it seriously.
Starting July 29, we have held several meetings with all agencies concerned to keep a close watch on the action taken to prevent stubble burning.
We are also working on larger, solution-based plans, such as converting paddy stubble into biofuels and decomposing it.
To curb the practice, we have also come up with machinery advancements (under the Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for in-situ management of crop residue).
The central government has assigned nearly ₹700 crore, and we have made service centres and hiring centres as well...
Farmers from Punjab and Haryana have highlighted that unless the government gives them some direct subsidy, stubble burning is likely to continue. What is being done in this area?
I don’t believe that is the case. Whichever farmer unions and pollution control boards I have interacted with, I have got good feedback. We understand this issue will need collective participation...
The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has also been working on revising air quality standards. By when can we expect some clarity on this?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already announced our plan for the holistic improvement of air quality in over 100 cities.
For this, we have also launched the PRANA portal. We are conducting some studies to assess the current air quality standards and see if they can be revised.
Are we on track to achieve the national clean air programme (NCAP) target which aims to achieve a 20-30% reduction in PM 2.5 concentrations compared to 2017 annual levels in over a hundred cities by 2024?
We are working tirelessly to achieve NCAP targets.
The best example of this is our work to convert all industries to piped natural gas in NCR. We have also taken out a policy to promote e-vehicles, steps to stop stubble burning, etc.
Last year, there was a lot of confusion over role of CAQM and CPCB in enforcing the Grap (graded response action plan) measures due to which Delhi saw several spells of ‘severe’ air when no action was called in. Will things be different this time?
CAQM and CPCB are working together. CAQM has come up with a system of regular updates, where the action taken by states and other agencies will be closely monitored. CPCB will aid the efforts.
Can people flag violations?
People can send complaints to CAQM through an online portal.
The Delhi government said that they have requested the Centre to ban firecrackers in the neighbouring states to avoid pollution spike during Diwali. Are you considering this?
No decision has been taken yet. As and when situation arises, we will see what steps can be taken.