CSTEP to help deal with air pollution

Enters into MoU with BBMP and KSPCB for efficient implementation of National Clean Air Programme

Bumper-to-bumper traffic, major road and other civic works taken up simultaneously have often seen the city turn into a dust bowl. Air pollution continues to be dangerously high despite widespread improvement in air quality during 2019 and 2020. Now, under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) action plan for 120 cities, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) for efficient implementation of the programme. CSTEP has been picked as an Institute of Repute (IoR) to work with Urban Local Bodies and State Pollution Control Boards. The recent development comes as the ‘World Air Quality Report, 2020’ compiled by IQAir has revealed that Bengaluru’s pollution levels were above the WHO prescribed limit in 46.7% of the days. The city’s annual average stands at 27.5 µg/m3, nearly three times the prescribed limit.