New Delhi, January 11 (IANS). The Congress party has targeted the central government on the issue of air pollution. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) has now become a ‘notional’ clean air program i.e. only on paper.
Jairam Ramesh said in a statement on Sunday, “A new analysis by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has confirmed what has long been India’s best-kept secret – that air quality is a structural crisis across the country and that the government’s response to it has been extremely ineffective and inadequate. The study, based on satellite data, has revealed that about 44 percent of India’s cities (out of 4,041 cities assessed 1,787 cities) continue to suffer from severe air pollution. Annual PM2.5 levels in the air in these cities have consistently remained above national standards for five years.”
He said that the NCAP which is being promoted as the National Clean Air Program has actually turned out to be a different kind of NCAP (Notional Clean Air Programme). Now it is in dire need of thorough review, comprehensive reform and restructuring.
Jairam Ramesh said, “The first step should be to recognize that there is a serious public health crisis related to air pollution in large parts of India. Keeping this crisis in mind, it is now necessary to completely review and comprehensively reform the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act, 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) implemented in November 2009.”
The Congress MP said in his statement that the government will have to massively increase the funds provided under NCAP. “NCAP should be made a Rs 25,000 crore program and extended to the 1,000 most polluted cities and towns in the country,” he said.
He also said that NCAP should make PM 2.5 levels the yardstick of its performance. Jairam Ramesh said that along with giving the NCAP a legal basis, it should also focus its attention on major pollution sources.
Jairam Ramesh raised the demand that the air pollution standards set for coal-based power plants should be implemented with immediate effect. Flue Gas De-sulphurizers (FGDs) should be mandatorily installed in all power plants by the end of 2026. The independence of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) should be restored and the anti-people environmental law amendments made in the last 10 years should be rolled back.
Taking aim at the government, the Congress MP said that till now twice in Parliament (first time on 29 July 2024 and second time on 9 December 2025) the government has tried to downplay the health effects of air pollution. The government is not unaware of the truth, rather it is trying to hide the scale of its incompetence and negligence.
–IANS
DCH/