Top officials to work together to mitigate air pollution in Noida, Ghaziabad

The senior officials of UP cities in NCR will also be trained on air pollution mitigation by Bhure Lal, chairman of Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) on May 29 in Noida’s Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra auditorium in Sector 6.

Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar directed the top officials of cities falling in the National Capital Region, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Bulandshahr, to take effective steps to mitigate air pollution in their respective areas.

The senior officials of UP cities in NCR will also be trained on air pollution mitigation. (Burhaan Kinu/HT FILE PHOTO)

The senior officials of UP cities in NCR will also be trained on air pollution mitigation by Bhure Lal, chairman of Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) on May 29 in Noida’s Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra auditorium in Sector 6.

Officials will chalk out a detailed plan in the Noida meet to reduce air pollution in cities located on Delhi’s periphery.

EPCA in January 2017 had notified a graded action plan for the “moderate to poor” category, which banned burning of garbage and firecrackers, closing brick kilns and enforcement of mechanised sweeping of roads.

The Union environment ministry in mid-January, through a notification, had assigned the task of implementing the plan to EPCA under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

As per the graded system plan, the UP government is supposed to take several steps including the development of a better public transport system, pedestrian walkways, adequate parking facilities to ensure smooth flow of traffic on roads, construction of Eastern Peripheral Expressway and action against illegal brick kilns.

“The meeting has been called to train officials of NCR to work towards effectively mitigating rising air pollution in their respective districts. Top officials will review the implementation preparations on the graded action plan. EPCA will also review how UP is containing burning of agricultural waste,” BB Awasthi, regional officer of the UP pollution control board in Noida, said.

The chief secretary directed district magistrates, police chiefs and heads of other enforcement agencies, including transport department, to attend the meeting.

“Many officials in NCR are not taking the graded system seriously. The objective of this meeting is to train all officials and also engage them in a workshop on mitigating air pollution,” another UPPCB official said.

Sunita Narain, an EPCA member, will speak on the comprehensive plan of the graded system in the meeting.