Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan

Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan

Subject :Government Schemes

Context: Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan- Ranking of Cities’ released under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Concept:

Under the guidance of the Minister for Environment, Forest and climate Change, the Ministry is going to launch Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan  that promotes ranking of 131 cities in the country for implementing City Action Plans prepared as part of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for reducing air pollution upto 40% by 2025-26.

The objectives of Swachh Vayu Survekshan are:

• To create awareness among all sections of the society
• Inform citizens about the health impacts related due to exposure
• Comparing air quality conditions at different locations/cities
• To achieve the goal of NCAP “Clean air for all”.

Categorisation of cities:

131 cities are categorized into three groups based on population. 

• 47 cities are in the first group having population more than 10 lakh. 
• 44 cities are in the second group having population between 3 to 10 lakh. 
• Third group consists of 40 cities having population less than 3 lakh.

How is the survey done?

• Cities are required to do the self-assessment as per the framework provided on PRANA online portal. This assessment is carried out annually.
• Cities have to report implementation of activities and measures taken in respect of solid waste management, road dust management, management of construction and demolition waste, control of vehicular emissions and industrial pollution.

Features of the survey:

• It was informed that  based on the self-assessment and third party assessment, 3 best performing cities in each group will be given cash award in the spirit of competitive federalism.
• It is not based on the measurement of the air quality parameters to rank the cities. It is based on the actions taken by the cities to improve the air quality in different domains. The actions taken by the cities would result in the improvement of air quality.
•  It thus, provides a planning implementation tool to improve the air quality and the assessment of the cities regarding how better they have aligned their actions to improve the air quality.