Air quality mgmt projects yet to see the light of day

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 9

With the residents facing poor air quality after Diwali, various projects of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced a year back for the improvement of air quality have still not implemented on the ground. The MC officials claimed that all air quality improvement projects are in the pipeline and would be implemented within the next few months.

Based on the Air quality data, the city had listed in the non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which means the holy city does not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Municipal Corporation (MC) had received Rs 19 crore to improve the air quality in the city under the NCAP in 2020.

The city-specific action plans have been prepared, which includes maintenance of pothole-free roads, procurement of water sprinkling, mechanical sweeping machines, creation of green buffers along the roadside, making parks and open areas green, installation of water fountains at major chowks, paved roads, infrastructure for parking, CNG-based crematorium, installation of air purifiers and installation of gobar gas plant at gaushalas.

As per the mandate of the NGT, the MC has to take measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions and increasing public awareness to improve the air quality.

Malwinder Singh Jaggi, Commissioner, MC, said: “All the projects of NCAP are under process. The tenders have been floated in most of the projects. We hope that residents would see the implementation of all projects within three-four months.