Conference VAYU

Why is in news? Sumangalam Panchmahabhoot Conference Series VAYU- The vital life force to be held in Bhubaneswar

To celebrate the spirit of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in the 75th year of Independence and channel dialogue on need for clean air in the country, a conference titled ‘Vayu – The vital life force’ is being organized at Bhubaneswar, Odisha from December 02 – 04, 2022.

This Conference is focused on varied air quality issues ranging from scientific discussions on climate change and pollution control to enriching our understanding on air quality from ancient scriptures and texts.

According to the concept of Panchmahaboot everything in nature is made up of five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space.

The imbalance or threat to any of these elements threatens the wellbeing of humanity. Thus, the clean air is vital to sustain life force and good health.

The aim of the Vayu conference is to build upon the multidimensional efforts taken by Governments to achieve our air quality targets as set in National Clean Air Program by uniting all the important stakeholders.

To celebrate the achievements of our cities in their efforts to achieve clean air targets, ‘National Clean Air City’ award based on Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan will be given to best performing nine cities for meeting air quality targets and implementation of corrective, preventive and mitigation actions. Total cash prize of about Rs. 05 Crores will be awarded to these cities to motivate them to take further concrete action towards clean air goals.

To constructively engage the youth of the country and give them a platform to present their innovative ideas to solve air quality challenges, an engaging youth session has been organized on December 02, 2022, wherein students will be involved in scholar sessions on atmospheric science, climate change, human health, heritage studies, agriculture issues and mitigation measures.

An exhibition to raise public awareness on air quality, natural alternatives and showcasing heritage of Odisha will also be held.

National Clean Air Program:

The Central Government launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country.

The Centre has set a new target of a 40% reduction in particulate matter concentration in cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) by 2026, updating the earlier goal of 20 to 30% reduction by 2024

The city specific action plans have been prepared which, inter-alia, include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc.

Implementation of the city specific action plans are regularly monitored by Committees at Central and State level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee.

Air quality of cities is monitored by State Pollution Control Boards which publishes their results from time to time.

Some Smart Cities have established Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) which are also connected to Air Quality Monitors (AQMs) for effective monitoring.