INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLEAN AIR FOR BLUE SKIES.

• India’s tallest air purifier will be inaugurated in Chandigarh on the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
• Earlier, in August 2021 country’s first ‘smog tower’ was inaugurated in Connaught Place, New Delhi.

Important points:

• It is a 24 meter long outdoor air purification tower and is capable of purifying the air of a radius of around 1 km.
• It will also show the quality index of the air it inhales and the quality index of the air it will exhale. It functions through electricity.
• Air purifiers are structures designed as large-scale air purifiers to reduce air pollution particles.
• Chandigarh is one of the non-attainment cities in the country according to National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)norms, which means it has over a five-year period not consistently met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for harmful PM 10 (particulate matter that is 10 microns or less in diameter), PM 2.5 or NO2 (nitrogen dioxide).
• After remaining “satisfactory” and “moderate” during the lockdown period and a few months after, the Air Quality Index (AQI) had again turned “poor” for the first time in November 2020.

International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies:

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2019, adopted a resolution by which 7th September became the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.
• It aims to prioritize the need for healthy air for all while keeping conversations broad enough to encompass other critical issues such as climate change, human and planetary health as well as the Sustainable Development Goals
• The resolution was adopted in recognition of the necessity to bring down the number of casualties and ailments from pollutants like chemicals in the air, water and soil by the year 2030.
• For 2021 the theme is Healthy Air, Healthy Planet.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT