CII-NITI Aayog Present Recommendation To Reduce Air Pollution

The CII-NITI Aayog 'Report on Clean Industry' presents recommendations for reducing air pollution from major industrial sources in the air-shed of Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). Key anthropogenic activities addressed in this report include fugitive emissions from construction, demolition and allied activities(manufacturing and transportation of construction materials) and energy-related emissions from diesel generators, thermal power plants and brick kilns.

Managing and controlling fugitive emissions requires proliferation of good practices for prevention and control of these at various stationary and mobile sources. The report presents a compilation of best practices in order to guide their adoption among public and private agencies involved in construction, infrastructure development and utility operations. Capacities at local level are found to be a major barrier for adoption of these best practices, therefore, capacity building at city level is a major policy recommendation. The report also highlights that clean air action in NCR towns requires greater accountability from local agencies or authorities. Stringent penalties are proposed for public and private agencies alike, if they are found to be violating the air quality standards and norms in their jurisdictions and operations.

Speaking on the Clean Industry report, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industries, said, If we wish to breathe fresh air, it is imperative for Industry to adopt the recommendations of the report across sectors, be it manufacturing, energy generation or construction; and embed it into its business strategy, policies and future plans. Businesses should shift from environmental compliance to environmental stewardship for the sake of healthy planet!

Managing energy-related emissions would require significant progress in adoption of clean fuel technologies and end-of-pipe solutions across sectors. Recommendations for enabling ecosystems include new policy mandates and incentives for prioritizing clean fuels in electricity generation, system-level changes for leapfrogging to higher co-firing ranges for locally available farm biomass in existing thermal power plant, more stringent environmental norms for diesel generators as per the global benchmarks which will require some degree of customization for adopting local solutions. Next generation of environmental standards with minimum technical specifications for end-of-pipe solutions can open the markets for new innovative end-of-pipe technologies while ensuring competitive market for these solutions.

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