Lucknow: With air quality concerns set to intensify ahead of winter, chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday reviewed and discussed a detailed anti-pollution strategy for eight Uttar Pradesh districts in the NCR, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Hapur and Bulandshahr.The two leaders also discussed ways to curb vehicular emissions, and ensure industrial compliance and dust control measures.The meeting was held at the CM’s residence in Lucknow. Yadav said discussions covered old vehicles, the state’s EV policy, electric buses, mandatory pollution certificates and aggregator vehicles.A review of industrial pollution found that around 80% of industries have installed Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) and air pollution control devices, with efforts underway to ensure compliance in the remaining units.The two leaders also discussed mechanised and deep-cleaning initiatives to curb dust pollution and agreed on stakeholder consultations for the effective implementation of solid waste and construction and demolition waste management rules.Highlighting UP cities’ performance under the National Clean Air Programme, Yadav said Lucknow has secured the top spot in the ‘Clean Air Survey’ covering 130 cities across the country, while other UP cities, including Agra, have also performed commendably.He congratulated Yogi Adityanath for exceeding the plantation targets under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (A Tree in Mother’s Name) campaign.Yadav said he has held similar meetings with Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and Delhi CM Rekha Gupta. Efforts to control pollution will be further advanced through upcoming meetings with the CMs of Rajasthan and Punjab.Yadav added that the Centre was also working with Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to address the issue of stubble burning ahead of the harvest season, in coordination with agriculture ministers from all states concerned.He said a detailed, city-specific action plan had been prepared for all municipal corporations in the NCR region.“Since last Dec, we’ve held over 30 meetings and have now started working on the city specific plans for each state. Recently, we also met with the heads of the panchayats, zila parishads, nagar palikas, and municipal corporations from 63 smaller cities in the NCR,” he said, adding that nodal officers had been directed to be appointed to oversee implementation at the local level.He also expressed confidence that with public support and coordinated administrative efforts, significant progress was being made towards improving air quality in the region.
