Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Plan: Airshed Based Air Quality Analysis and Recommendations

The Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Program (UCAP) presents an in-depth technical understanding of sources and causes of air pollution across Uttar Pradesh (UP) through application of a more comprehensive lens following an airshed based approach considering both primary and secondary sources of PM2.5. It has been based on a first state emission inventory that has been developed as inputs for modeling and will progressively be updated throughout implementation of the plan as part of a comprehensive decision support system (DSS) to be established.

UCAP’s comprehensive baseline supports a forward-looking plan over the next 10 years based on the air quality levels, trends, and prominent sources. It also provides a source apportionment analysis and reviews baseline business as usual (BAU) policies as well as alternative policies and actions needed to further advance emission reductions in the state with the goal to achieve India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs) to ensure cleaner air for the citizens of UP. Strategic objectives of UCAP in this context are (i) to develop pathways for achieving NAAQSs in UP; (ii) to promote pilots and standard operation procedures (SOPs) for all relevant sectors that contribute to air pollution, particularly focusing on those sectors and gaps within sectors that have not been addressed before, and (iii) align state-level interventions with the objectives of the National Clean Air Program (NCAP).