Center’s comprehensive action plan for Delhi-NCR

NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has come up with a Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) to combat air pollution in Delhi-NCR in the long run, which will go hand-in-hand with the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that kicks in when air quality deteriorates.

The final plan was released by the ministry on October 8, 2018, while the draft notification of the plan was finalised by the Centre in March 2018, with deadlines set for each sector, including air quality monitoring, traffic management, crop burning and emission control. The plan also emphasizes the need for a strict parking policy in Delhi-NCR and for upgrading the public transport system immediately.

The Centre’s pollution plan has called on agencies to ensure strict compliance of the shift to BS VI by 2020, extend the CNG network across NCR, introduce more electric vehicles, and to install vapour recovery systems while tightening PUC norms.