A two day National Conference of Ministers of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was held in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat on 23-24th September, 2022. The conference was inaugurated by the Prime Minister virtually.

During  a  parallel session on Control and Prevention of Pollution, the States were informed regarding guidelines  on ‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan- Ranking of Cities’ released under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

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.

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.

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.

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. This promotes constructive competition  in the spirit of competitive federalism to take measures to improve air quality. This Survekshan provides a tool to cities to plan their actions in order to improve the air quality. 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.

The Ministers of Environment, Forest and Climate Change from across the country participated in the  National conference organised by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. State Forest and Environment Ministers, the concerned State Secretaries as well as Chairmen of State PCBs / PCCs along with PCCFs also participated in the two-day National Conference along with senior officials of the Ministry.

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HS