Tata Steel celebrates International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies is annually observed to address this issue and come up with ways to improve the environment and quality of lives of the people.

Jamshedpur: Tata Steel celebrated International Day of Clean Air for blue skies – calling for global action to combat air pollution, one of the greatest health and environmental challenges of our time.

The day invites all to consider how we can support action for clean air in our countries, cities and businesses, and make changes in our daily lives to reduce air pollution. These actions, in turn, benefit people’s health and reduces climate warming air pollutants and greenhouse gases. The day aims to create awareness about the significance of air quality, which is essential to all living things on Earth.

On the occasion, a webinar was organised on the topic ‘Advanced Technologies to help ‘National Clean Air Programme’ on September 7. Over 250 participants took park in the same.

Chief Guest, Dr. Sachida Nand Tripathi, J C Bose Fellow, Arjun Dev Joneja Chair and Professor Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur opined that India launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 with an aim to reduce PM2.5 by 30% by the end of 2024. NCAP rests on three pillars: data & science, capacity and institution building and mitigation of sources across economic sectors. He discussed progresses made till date under NCAP related to capacity building, source attributions and alternative way of air quality monitoring. The future activities envisioned under NCAP were also discussed.

Mr Jitendra Prasad Singh, Regional Officer, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board was present as Special Guest while the Session was chaired by Dr Amit Ranjan Chakraborty, Chief Environment Management Tata Steel.

Air pollution adversely affects the earth’s biodiversity, climate, and ecosystems, which in turn negatively impact the lives of human being. Among the many factors, industrialisation has been one of the prime source of pollution of our natural resources. This has led to millions of premature deaths and severe health disorders. So, International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies is annually observed to address this issue and come up with ways to improve the environment and quality of lives of the people.

Amid the pandemic, the theme this year is “Healthy Air, Healthy Planet”. Keeping with the theme, the UNEP will focus on climate change and sustainable development.