HSPCB gets Rs 2.51 crore fund to fight pollution in NCR districts

The fund will be utilised in coming months, in view of the approaching winter season, when pollution levels are expected to spike once again, HSPCB officials said.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has been allocated a fund of ₹2.51 crore, under the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), to be used primarily for laboratory development, pollution assessment activities, and public awareness programmes in the state’s National Capital Region (NCR) districts, including Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Mahendragarh, Karnal, Sonepat and Rewari, among others.

While a city-specific action plan for Gurugram has been submitted to the CPCB for approval, a dedicated plan for Faridabad is yet to be submitted. (HT FILE Photo)

The fund will be utilised in coming months, in view of the approaching winter season, when pollution levels are expected to spike once again, HSPCB officials said.

Dr Rajesh Garhia, senior scientist, HSPCB, said, “The funds are part of a larger corpus of ₹111 crore which the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has released to 27 states. In Haryana, we have been given instructions to utilise the amount for capacity building and awareness in our NCR districts, as the entire area is of concern.” However, the specific details of how the fund will be utilised are still being worked out. “A meeting to discuss this was held with CPCB officials on August 30,” Garhia added.

Some of the measures, however, will include setting up manual air quality testing stations, air quality monitoring devices and technical training for staff members, among others. S Narayanan, member secretary, HSPCB, also added that these measures would also help in the creation of a comprehensive air quality management plan for the entire NCR.

“As part of the NCAP, the HSPCB will be participating in the creation of an air quality action plan for the entire NCR. The new funds will allow us to scale up pollution assessment and abatement activities across the NCR districts and use our learnings from the same,” he said. In June this year, Gurugram and Faridabad were both added to the list of non-attainment cities under the NCAP. A non-attainment city is one which does not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

While a city-specific action plan for Gurugram has been submitted to the CPCB for approval, a dedicated plan for Faridabad is yet to be submitted. “The plan for Gurugram might also be resubmitted after some revisions to make the plan more holistic,” Narayanan said.