Lokmat News Network
Aurangabad, Nov 23:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) administrator A K Pandey today has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the State Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) today. Aurangabad is one of the million-plus cities amongst the six nodal municipal corporations of Urban Agglomeration Maharashtra to sign the MoU. The AMC will get the aid of Rs 87 crore in the next five years (2021-22 to 2025-26) to curb the growing pollution and provide 'clean air' in the city. The MoU was a part of the 15th Finance Commission.
The union MoEF&CC and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) hosted a ' Sensitisation cum Review Workshop on National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and XV Finance Commission Million Plus Cities Challenge Fund' in Mumbai from November 23 to 24. The urban local bodies (ULBs) from Western Region comprising Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, attended the workshop.
Pandey apprised on various environment-friendly initiatives taken to curb the air pollution in the city by the AMC. He mentioned starting of garbage processing plants (under Solid Waste Management); introducing public transport system in the form of Smart City Bus (to curb pollution caused due to personal vehicles), constructing bicycle tracks, erecting vertical gardens, used sweeping machines to develop dust-free roads and implemented Kham River Rejuvenation Project, etc.
The MoU identifies the role and responsibilities of concerned stakeholders in order to achieve the National Level Particulate Matter (PM) pollution reduction target of 20-30 per cent by the year 2024.
The union MoEF&CC minister Bhupendra Yadav, state environment minister Aditya Thackeray and minister of state (MoS) Sanjay Bansode were present on the occasion.