World Environment Day

• 06 Jun 2019

World Environment Day is observed on the 5^th of June every year for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.

• Since it began in 1974, the event has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.
• World Environment Day 2019 is being hosted by China with a theme of “Air Pollution”. India hosted World Environment Day 2018 emphasizing on prevention of ‘Plastic Pollution’.
• The Government launched #SelfiewithSapling campaign as part of the World Environment Day celebrations, urging people to plant a sapling and post a selfie with it on social media.

Air Pollution

• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 defines "air pollutant" as any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in the atmosphere in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to human beings or other living creatures or plants or property or environment.
• Air pollution is responsible for about one-third of deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease, and lung cancer, as well as one-quarter of deaths from heart attack. Air pollution is also fundamentally altering our climate, with profound impacts on the health of the planet.
• About 92 percent of people worldwide do not breathe clean air. Air pollution costs the global economy $5 trillion every year in welfare costs.
• Ground-level ozone pollution is expected to reduce staple crop yields by 26 percent by 2030.
• Recently India has formulated and launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) whose objective is prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network.

Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

• The Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act was enacted by the Parliament in 1981 with an objective to prevent, control & abatement of air pollution.
• The act provides for the establishment of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at the apex level and State Pollution Control Boards at the state level to advise the government on any matter concerning the improvement of the quality of the air and prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.
• The CPCB also lays down standards for the quality of air and provides technical assistance to and guidance to the State Pollution Control Board.