Air-quality management project for Kurukshetra

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, February 8

The district administration has given consent to an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-backed NGO for reducing air pollution in the city.

Clean Air Asia (CAA), a UN-recognised organisation, would offer Kurukshetra city a unique project that provides a way to comprehensively interpret and assess air pollution levels caused by dust.

Deputy Commissioner Sumedha Kataria told The Tribune today that the NGO would bear all expenses for the proposed project, including logistic, capacity building and educating people for the air quality project.

Construction activities, vehicular traffic and burning of waste are key contributors to pollution in Kurukshetra, she said.

“We are making efforts to make the district open defecation free. With the help of experts, we will rope in active local residents for the ambitious initiative,” she said.

Clean Air Scorecard Tool (CAST), developed by the NGO for ADB in 2010, has been introduced in several Asian countries to accelerate air quality management initiatives.

She said improved air quality parameters would be a value addition to the efforts in making Kurukshetra a major international tourist hub.

She said CAST would help the city in reducing air pollution levels by identifying areas for improvement in all aspects of air quality management.