NEW DELHI :
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Thursday said that it has set up a committee led by IIT Kanpur to review the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for 12 pollutants were notified in 2009 to protect public health and environment from air pollution, said Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
“There is a continuous process of reviewing the existing standards as well as incorporating new parameters with advances in the scientific research, ” the minister said.
The minister further said that the government has launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a national level strategy to reduce air pollution levels across the country.
The NCAP aims to meet prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards across the country in a stipulated timeframe. Accordingly, list of non-attainment cities i.e. cities exceeding national standards for five consecutive years is updated annually and such cities are directed to prepare and implement city action plans for improvement in air quality.
Under NCAP, City Specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared and rolled out for implementation in several cities of the country, he said.
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