CLEAN AIR AGRA CITY PLAN

In a major initiative to control air pollution The Agra City Action Plan for the Control of Air Pollution was  launched Saturday  by UP state pollution control board, in collaboration with Central Pollution Control Board, union ministry of Environment, Forests, Climate Change and UN agencies that are partnering with local stake holders.

The city of the Taj was ranked the fourth most polluted city in India in 2016. In the race for a smart city tag, Agra has been struggling with polluted air which is a threat not only to humans but also to its historical monuments including the Taj Mahal.

An official said the The Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has emphasised on national level strategies to reduce air pollution at urban and regional scales and has come up with the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

The goal of NCAP is to meet the prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in the country in a prescribed timeframe. It is a focussed and time bound initiative to be based on air quality management plans for 102 non-attainment Indian cities. Agra is one of the non-attainment cities under NCAP.

The first exercise in the series was conducted on February  26, 2019 when local stake holders were invited for a discussion on the Clean Air Action Plan. The aim of the meeting was to come up with concrete interventions in areas identified in the Agra City Air Action Plan prepared by the Agra Regional Office of Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board with inputs from Clean Air Asia. Environment and Health is also one of the important aspects in Agra Air Action Plan where the priorities and actions defined in in the plan will have co-benefits in terms of improved quality of health.

The activities defined in the Agra Air Action Plan will help reducing the harmful impacts of air pollution on human health and the Environment. Opportunities for assessment of health impact of air pollution may also be explored besides pollution abatement activities. 

Those who attended the ceremony included Atul Bagai, Country Head, UN Environment, India,   Ms. Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator , Ms Kalpana Awasthi,  ,Anil Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, Agra Division, Keshav Varma, Advisor, Government of Uttar Pradesh- V. K. Jindal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs- S.P.S. Parihar, Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board i C. K. Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ,Ms Preeti Sudan, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Naveen Kumar Jain, Mayor, Agra Anup Chandra Pandey Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh-