Environment, Forests and Climate Change Ministry Secretary Shri Narendra Bhushan reviewed the Delhi‑NCR air‑pollution mitigation and winter‑readiness plans of the Uttar Pradesh state government and urban local bodies today.
Uttar Pradesh has disclosed details of all its planned activities aimed at achieving saturation of the 11 major steps taken so far and various interventions to improve air quality. The measures address sources such as road dust, construction and demolition (C&D) activities, open burning of biomass, vehicular emissions, traffic‑jam reduction, industrial pollution, greening and rice‑stubble management. Several actions have already been implemented through coordination of various agencies and local bodies, yielding notable progress.
The Secretary reviewed interventions including road redevelopment, traffic‑jam reduction at pollution hotspots, deployment of electric buses and EV‑charging infrastructure, establishment of solid‑waste processing facilities for 100 % of generated solid waste, treatment of old/abandoned waste dump sites, C&D waste processing units and secondary collection centres, and monitoring and enforcement of air‑pollution control measures at construction sites and industries.
While reviewing progress on vehicular‑emission interventions, Shri Bhushan urged the state government to promptly adopt the benefits of its replacement‑plan for old trucks and buses by actively engaging with truck and bus unions. He suggested that the Transport Department play a facilitative and proactive role in issuing NOCs to move old vehicles out of the NCR.
The Secretary called on the state to enforce a ‘No PUCC, No Fuel’ policy at all fuel stations to curb vehicular emissions, and to expedite the installation of ANPR cameras.
Shri Bhushan also examined the adequacy of C&D waste‑processing facilities relative to the volume of construction and demolition waste generated. He proposed that many cities could integrate their existing Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) for monitoring and enforcement, such as remote monitoring of construction sites, tracking of C&D and solid‑waste transport vehicles, mechanical street cleaning, traffic‑jam reduction and operation of mechanical sweepers. He further recommended using the Dust Portal developed by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board for construction‑site monitoring.
It was noted that the state has already achieved its greening targets. The Secretary suggested encouraging urban local bodies to develop ‘Namo Van’ under the MOF & CC municipal forest scheme.
Shri Bhushan also reviewed how industries in specific categories are preparing to install Air‑Pollution Control Devices (APCDs) to meet the revised emission standards set by the Air Quality Management Commission (AQMC).
The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the Industries Department were advised to hold meetings with industries and unions for close monitoring of implementation and to address obstacles.
Senior officials from the Ministries of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Power, and Road Transport & Highways, along with representatives of AQMC, CPCB, NCR Planning Board and various Uttar Pradesh government departments, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, and district magistrates and municipal commissioners of Ghaziabad, Meerut, Noida, Greater Noida, Bulandshahr, Hathras, Bagpat, Muzaffarnagar and Shamli participated in the meeting.