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Clean Air Project
The World Bank has approved a USD 300 million loan for Pakistan to combat air pollution in its Punjab province, according to a media report on Sunday. The loan provided under the International Development Association (IDA) for the Punjab Clean Air Programme (PCAP) was approved by the World Bank Group's board of directors on Friday, the Dawn newspaper reported. The PCAP aims to strengthen air quality management and address environmental pollution in the province. It will support the Punjab government's Smog Mitigation Action Plan' (SMAP) in tackling the pressing issue of smog and air pollution with the launch of several comprehensive initiatives aimed at improving air quality and public health across the province. It will cover key sectors such as transport, agriculture, industry, energy, and municipal services, said a press release issued by the World Bank (WB) mission in Islamabad on Saturday. The Punjab Clean Air Programme supports the province's Smog Mitigation Action Plan and
The budgetary allocation of Rs 858 crore for pollution control in 2024-25 remains unutilized due to lack of approval from the Union Environment Ministry for the continuation of the scheme, a parliamentary panel has said in its report. In the report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change said air pollution has assumed "gigantic proportions", affecting not just Delhi but many other cities. "In such a scenario, the committee is shocked to note that amount to the tune of Rs 858 crore allocated for 'Control of Pollution', which is 27.44 per cent of the annual revised allocation of the ministry, remains unutilized since the approval for continuation of Control of Pollution Scheme till 2025-26 is awaited," the 31-member panel headed by BJP Rajya Sabha member Bhubaneswar Kalita said. "At a time when the ministry is required to address the grave and critical challenge of
With an average Air Quality Index of 294, Delhi has recorded its cleanest December air since the introduction of the AQI system in 2015. This improvement can be attributed to strong, consistent winds in the first half of the month and record-breaking rainfall in the second, officials said. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), December marked Delhi's cleanest first half ever, with only one 'very poor' air day recorded between December 1 and December 15. On Monday, the AQI stood at 173, in the "moderate" category, a significant improvement from Sunday's 225 (poor). This marked the eighth moderate air quality day this month, with the capital previously recording no more than three moderate days in December. The lowest AQI of this month was recorded on December 28, at 139, marking the cleanest December day on record. The average AQI during this period stood at 238, significantly lower than the usual AQI of over 300 for this time of year. In comparison, .
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Sunday that in spite of Dussehra celebrations in the capital, people are breathing clean air, and added the number of days with "good", "satisfactory", and "moderate" air quality is going up, indicating an improvement in managing pollution. Rai also said that Delhi's Air Quality Index has remained outside the "poor" category after Dussehra, however, as per the Central Pollution Control Board the city's air quality was recorded in the "poor" category with a reading of 225 at 12 pm. In a press conference on Sunday, Rai said every year after Dussehra, the air quality usually dips into the "poor" category, but this year Delhi is experiencing clean air. The environment minister said that over the past two years, Delhi has recorded 200 days of "good," "satisfactory," or "moderate" air quality between January and October 12, compared to just 109 such days in 2016. Rai said this is an indicator of progress in managing pollution, crediting the ..
Ninety-five of the 131 cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme have shown an improvement in air quality, with 21 reducing PM10 pollution by more than 40 per cent compared to 2017-18 levels, CPCB data shows. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also said that only 18 of the 131 National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) cities adhered to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10, set at 60 micrograms per cubic metre. The 21 cities and urban agglomerations that achieved more than 40 per cent reduction in PM10 pollution are Varanasi, Dhanbad, Byrnihat, Bareilly, Firozabad, Dehradun, Tuticorin, Nalagarh, Moradabad, Khurja, Trichy, Kohima, Lucknow, Kanpur, Kadapa, Sivasagar, Sunder Nagar, Agra, Greater Mumbai, Rishikesh and Parwanoo. Fourteen cities, -- Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad, Rajkot, Jalandhar, Raebareli, Amritsar, Kolkata, Jammu, Silchar, Vijayawada, Naya Nangal, Dimapur, Baddi and Jodhpur -- reduced PM10 pollution by 30-40 per cent, compared to 2017-18 ...
The opening of the coastal road's southbound carriageway between Worli and Marine Drive will reduce travel time from 40 minutes to just 9 minutes and save nearly USD 100 million annually in carbon emissions through fuel savings, Mumbai civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal has said. The first phase of the coastal road project was inaugurated by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday morning. The public has been allowed to use it from 8 am on Tuesday. "The travelling time will be reduced from 40 minutes to 9 minutes now, and it would save nearly $100 million annually in carbon emissions through fuel savings," Chahal said on Monday. The coastal road of 10.58 km length and 16.5 km of interchanges, being built at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore, consists of four lanes on each side along with two 12.19 metre diameter tunnels of 2.07 km length, he said. These are the largest tunnels by diameter built by tunnel boring machines in the country, Chahal said. "It is for the first time in India that a ...