'Higher allocation for environment but no vision to curb air-pollution'

NEW DELHI: The Union Budget of 2019-20 financial year got higher allocation for the environment sector, however the Centre did not present any vision to combat air pollution which is a major issue in Delhi, said the environment lists. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the budget as "Green Budget".

The Centre on Friday increased the allocation for Environment Ministry from last fiscal by 10.4 percent to Rs 2,954.72 crore for 2019-20. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, allocated Rs 460 crore for pollution control schemes including National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) with a vision for "pollution-free India with green Mother Earth and blue skies". The revised budget for pollution control schemes in the last fiscal was a mere Rs 5 crore. The finance minister proposed lowering of the GST on electric vehicles (EVs) from 12 to 5 percent. Also to make them affordable to consumers, the government will provide additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs, Sitharaman said.

NCAP is a time-bound national level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner. However, the environmentalists see no push in the vision of combating air-pollution which is a major issue in Delhi and in the northern parts of India.

"This budget was presented amid the talks on the water crisis in India and air pollution. While the government focused on infrastructural development, there has been no focus on ecology, air pollution and public health," said Vimlendu Jha an environmentalist.

"Air pollution in Delhi and northern India is a major issue and it deserves a separate focus. The EV policy and water related announcements were also nothing new, therefore there is a lack in all over push to combat air pollution in Delhi and adjacent area," said Jha.