Minister for environment, forests and climate change Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said that the government will launch a special National Control of Pollution programme in 102 top polluted cities of India. Of these, the pollution tackling plans for 80 cities are already ready.
The programme, which has been allotted Rs 460 crore, aims to provide aid and expertise to city civic administrations for tackling city specific pollution. The minister said that the pollution problem of each city is unique; if it is dust management in one, solid waste management is the issue in another.
The government is also aiming at cleaning air in 28 cities with one million plus population. The target is to reduce levels of PM 2.5 in these cities by 20 per cent in the next two years. Rs 10 crore has been allocated for each city for the initiative, the minister said.
Javadekar said that his ministry has received Rs 480 crore or 16 per cent hike in this budget over the last year. As against the allocation of Rs 2,683 crore in the last fiscal, this time, the allotment is for Rs 3,175 crore. Of the Rs 480 crore additional funds, however, Rs 221 crore will actually move out of the ministry. This is because the Rs 204 crore allotted for national river conservation will move to the Jal Shakti ministry account, and Rs 17 crore for the Animal Welfare Board will go to the the ministry of animal husbandry. The government has rejigged departments, and attempted putting all aspects of an issue under one umbrella ministry.
Javadekar said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had spoken about the government's intention of making the earth green and the sky blue in her budget speech. This was in line with the government's ten-year vision for the country.
Speaking on Delhi's toxic air, he said the efforts to clean up the air in the last five years were unprecedented. He mentioned the opening up of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, a road that skirts the capital and which can be used by vehicles that are not bound for Delhi but only transiting it. The final stretch of the expressway is to be ready by December, he said, noting that the project had not moved for over a decade.
“Sixty thousand vehicles not bound for Delhi will use this route daily,'' he said pointing out how much vehicular load would reduce. The extension of the Delhi metro, he said, has ensured around 27 lakh people per day opting for this cleaner mass transit option. Also, the shutting down of the coughing Badarpur power plant was a positive step, he said, adding that the problem of Delhi's air pollution was a complex one “and we are still fighting it”.
