Comprehensive Clean Air Action Plan for the City of Patna
Communication and Implementation Strategy A task force committee with representation from various line departments should be formed, to monitor and implement the CMs. The air-quality monitoring committee should keep a check on the functioning of the task force committee. The task force committee should be headed by the Chief Secretary of the state. The main objective of the committee will be “to reduce the emissions levels in Patna region to the target set by NCAP”. The committee should meet every quarter to discuss the (a) implementation status of the CMs, (b) new policy changes, and (c) required future steps. The respective representative from line departments should coordinate the implementation strategies within their departments within the stipulated time. Alongside other stakeholders and funders, various available schemes at the central level need to be considered for creating the corpus needed to implement the action plan.
6.2
Emergency response actions
Despite our best efforts, there may be episodes where pollution levels may increase drastically due to anthropogenic and natural phenomena. To control this unexpected increase in pollution levels, CMs are suggested in Table 26. These measures, if implemented on an emergency basis, could safeguard our environment. Table 26: Emergency response action plan
Severe Pollution (ambient PM2.5 concentration values of 250 µg/m3 and above) Temporarily stop all construction activities Temporarily shut down brick kilns and hot mix plants Temporarily shut down schools and colleges Very Poor Pollution (ambient PM2.5 concentration values of 121–250 µg/m3) Increase frequency of mechanised cleaning of roads and sprinkling of water on unpaved sections of roads Increase public transport frequency and restrict operation of diesel auto rickshaws Increase parking fee to 3–4 times the current value Strict vigilance and no tolerance for visible emissions—stop operations of visibly polluting vehicles by imposing heavy fines Stringently enforce all pollution-control regulations in brick kilns and industries Moderate to poor (ambient PM2.5 concentration values of 61–120 µg/m3) Stop burning of solid waste Periodic mechanised sweeping and water sprinkling on unpaved roads
Agency Responsible / Implementation Agency Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) BSPCB Agency Responsible / Implementation Agency Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) Department of Transport, Govt of Bihar PMC Traffic police BSPCB Agency Responsible / Implementation Agency PMC and BSPCB PMC
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