National Clean Air Programme: UPSC Daily Important Topic | 10 October 2022

National Clean Air Programme?

✓It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019.

It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target.

✓It seeks to cut the concentration of coarse (particulate matter of diameter 10 micrometer or less, or PM10) and fine particles (particulate matter of diameter 2.5 micrometer or less, or PM2.5) by at least 20% in the next five years, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.

✓It covers 132 non-attainment cities which were identified by the  Central pollution control Board

Non-attainment cities are those that have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for over five years.

✓NAAQs are the standards for ambient air quality with reference to various identified pollutant notified by the CPCB under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. List of pollutants under NAAQS: PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, NH3, Ozone, Lead, Benzene, Benzo-Pyrene, Arsenic and Nickel.