State Action Plans
The State has formulated Action Plans for clean air, clean rivers, crop residue burning, climate change and waste management with the vision to provide Punjab good living environment in consonance with Sustainable Developmental Goals. The organizations under the umbrella of Department of Science Technology & Environment, Punjab viz. Directorate of Environment and Climate Change (DECC), Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST) and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have formulated these action plans and ensures their effective implementation. The DECC is the nodal agency and the monitoring is carried out at District and the State level.
State Action Plan for Climate Change
Punjab State Council for Science & Technology has formulated State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) 1.0 for the period 2014-2020. Further, the development of SAPCC 2.0 is underway which articulates strategies to be followed by the State for climate change adaptation and mitigation in line with India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
For more details: https://decc.punjab.gov.in/climate-change/action-plans/
State Action Plans for Clean Air
The comprehensive Action Plans for Clean Air for nine critically polluted towns of Punjab viz. Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Derabassi, Nangal, Patiala, Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna & Dera Baba Nanak with the aim to restore air quality to prescribed standards are in force. The key features includes identification of sources of air pollution, creating awareness about adverse impact of pollution & measures to control pollution within fixed timeline by setting-up of facilities/infrastructure, promotion of cleaner technologies, policy interventions, training & capacity building programs.
For more details: https://decc.punjab.gov.in/clean-air/action-plans/
State Action Plans for Clean Rivers
The comprehensive Action Plans for cleaning Sutlej, Beas & Ghaggar are in force to restore the quality of water, to ensure ecological balance and socio-economic well-being of the people. The key features of action plans are identification of sources of pollution, measures to control pollution in water bodies, implement cleaner technologies for managing water pollution of point sources etc.
For more details: https://decc.punjab.gov.in/clean-river/action-plans/
State Action Plan for Control of Crop Residue Burning
The State of Punjab being agrarian State produces 20 MT paddy straw from 3 million hectare land cultivated annually, out of which only 8-9% is being used for industrial/energy/other projects. The burning of paddy straw by farmers in fields is one of the major challenges leading to widespread environmental pollution, huge nutritional loss of soil and health related problems. The State is taking up various programs for in–situ & ex-situ management of paddy straw. PSCST and PPCB are carrying out studies for gainful utilization of paddy straw as fuel in various industrial applications as one of the ex-situ options. The State has been taking steps to promote the use of paddy straw in power plants, CBG plants and other industrial applications. 11 Biomass based power plants with paddy straw utilization potential of 8.8 Lac MT per annum are already in operation. PSCST has demonstrated first-of-their-kind paddy straw based briquetting technology at two locations in Punjab in districts Moga and Patiala with support of MoEFCC, GoI. Recently, after establishing the use of paddy straw pellets as partial replacement of fossil fuel i.e. coal in brick kilns, the Government of Punjab has notified mandatory replacement of atleast 20 percent coal with paddy straw pellets as fuel in brick kilns from 1st May, 2023.
For more details: https://decc.punjab.gov.in/clean-air/action-plans/control-of-burning-of-crop-residue-in-the-state/
State Action Plan for Waste Management
The six comprehensive action plans have been formulated for managing various types of waste including Municipal Solid Waste, Construction and Demolition Waste, Plastic Waste Management, Bio-Medical Waste, Hazardous Waste and E-Waste. The vision of these action plans is to ensure the management of waste in environmentally sound manner. The STI components of the action plans are promotion of innovative and cleaner technologies for scientific management of waste, introducing IT enabled environmental monitoring mechanism/systems, policy interventions, training & capacity building of relevant stakeholder departments.
For more details: https://decc.punjab.gov.in/waste-management/