The air quality on Monday was severe (Sunil Ghosh / HT)
New Delhi: Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday directed the state and central pollution control boards to inspect polluting industries in peri-urban (mix of rural and urban characteristics) areas and take action to keep emissions at check. Yadav chaired a meeting on Monday to undertake a review of the air pollution action plans in Ghaziabad and Noida.
Yadav also sought an update from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) in the remaining industrial units. He also ordered that stringent action be taken against non-compliant units.
He emphasised the need to upgrade the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) parameters to enable rational allocation of funds to better-performing cities. The Minister also stressed active involvement of public representatives and citizens in ground-level implementation of action plans and greening activities, so that pollution control becomes a true Jan Bhagidari movement.
Further, the minister advised municipal authorities to partner with respective forest departments for plantation of heat-resistant, low-water-requiring indigenous varieties of bushes and grasses as part of greening efforts. He also called for formulation of integrated waste management plans through coordinated efforts of different government and municipal agencies.
CAQM was requested to devise a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for utilising urban open spaces for greening and improved urban planning.
Also, other recommendations included adoption of smart traffic management systems to curb vehicular emissions, compliance of industrial units with prescribed pollution norms, status of commercial electric vehicle (EV) fleet and availability of charging infrastructure, strengthening end-to-end public transport systems and parking facilities, infrastructure augmentation for management of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, and greening of pathways and open areas.