Noida: UP and central govt on Monday signed an agreement with the World Bank to implement the state’s Clean Air Management Programme aimed at improving air quality while generating jobs for youth and women. Under the programme, which has a budget of over Rs 2,487 crore, around 200 new air quality monitors will be installed using data from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB). The initiative focuses on cleaner practices across transport, agriculture and industry.Officials said the plan will help nearly 39 lakh households access clean cooking and support over 700 brick kilns in shifting to resource-efficient technology. Farmers will also adopt improved fertiliser use to boost productivity while reducing emissions.The tripartite agreement was signed by the joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Juhi Mukherjee, CEO of Clean Air Management Authority and state secretary of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, B Chandrakala, and World Bank’s acting country director for India, Paul Procee.“The programme will leverage almost Rs 1,245 crore in private capital in the transport and MSME sectors. By investing in electric buses and 3-wheelers, emissions monitoring systems and cleaner technologies in industries, the programme will help to improve farm productivity and growth, as well as provide greater access to jobs to young men and women in the state,” Procee said.Uttar Pradesg and Haryana are the first states in the country to adopt an airshed management approach using a multi-sectoral action plan. A World Bank official said that the agreement was signed electronically and aimed at cutting down on the adverse impacts of air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic plain.Under the programme, clean transport facilities will be provided in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur by giving incentives to replace 13,500 polluting heavy-duty vehicles.The Uttar Pradesh programme is part of the World Bank’s Regional Air Quality Management Programme in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and Himalayan Foothills (IGP-HF), which is considered a global air pollution hotspot. It has a maturity of 10 years, including a grace period of two years, and will receive support from the multi-donor Energy Sector Management Assessment Programme.In an official statement, chief minister minister Yogi Adityanath said that UP is on course to become a one trillion dollar economy by adopting economic growth and productivity with ecological balance.“Through the UP Clean Air Management Programme, our pursuit of prosperity will be measured not by GDP alone, but by clean skies, healthier and more productive citizens, and a flourishing environment that sustains our people and our planet,” the CM said.
