Aurangabad:- An NGO on Sunday claimed that it would soon offer the city a unique tool that provides the cities with a way to comprehensively interpret and assess air pollution levels. The objective of the NGO - Clean Air Asia India is to for better air quality in cities in Asia. Its aim is to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in over 1000 cities in Asia through policies and programmes that cover air quality, transport and industrial emissions and energy use.
While conducting a seminar on air pollution held here recently, Geetanjali Kaushik - air quality specialist in Clean Air Asia India said the NGO would offer a Clean Air Scorecard Tool which is developed by Clean Air Asia for Asian Development Bank. In 2010, CAST was introduced to several Asian countries, to accelerate air quality management initiatives. Since its development, the CAST has been applied in 19 Asian cities in nine countries, she said.
Eleborating on the concept, Kaushik said, air quality management in cities is evaluated using traditional method and the data is unable to provide direct inputs on how cities can improve. However, CAST is an objective and comprehensive tool that, instead of judging and ranking cities based on air pollution alone, also looks at existing capacity, policies, and measures as these are better indicators for their future levels of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, she said.
Kaushik said CAST helps cities reduce air pollution levels by identifying areas for improvement in all facets of air quality management. Its output also contributes to an objective air quality information exchange and sharing among cities.
