The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has earned national recognition for its innovative initiatives to improve air quality, with Mission Clean Patiala, the installation of an Air Pollution Control Device (APCD) at a crematorium in Patiala featuring in the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Compendium of Best Practices under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), 2026. A gas-based crematoria in Mandi Gobindgarh and a bio-methanation plant in Gobindgarh are among the other best practices from Punjab.
The recognition highlights Punjab’s efforts to address diverse sources of air pollution through community participation, technology-driven interventions and sustainable waste management. These initiatives demonstrate how local action, institutional collaboration and practical solutions can contribute to the broader national goal of cleaner air.
Mission Clean Patiala: Making clean surroundings a people’s movement
Launched by PPCB in collaboration with the District Administration and Municipal Corporation, Patiala, and conceptualised in association with the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), the Mission Clean Patiala has mobilised educational institutions, government departments, organisations and citizens to improve urban cleanliness and strengthen community participation in environmental protection.
Through regular road-cleaning drives, the initiative focuses on removing accumulated waste, discouraging open burning and encouraging responsible waste management. By bringing together students across generations, government agencies and local communities, the campaign seeks to make cleanliness a sustained civic habit rather than an occasional activity.
The initiative also reinforces the link between solid-waste management and air quality: preventing waste accumulation and open burning can help reduce emissions of particulate matter and other harmful pollutants.
Technology for cleaner traditional cremation
The installation of an Air Pollution Control Device at a traditional wood-based crematorium in Patiala represents an effort to address particulate emissions while respecting established religious and cultural practices. Implemented as a pilot under NCAP, the intervention is designed to reduce particulate pollution from traditional cremation.
Cleaner cremation and organic-waste management in Gobindgarh
The inclusion of gas-based crematoria in Mandi Gobindgarh highlights an alternative approach to reducing reliance on conventional wood-based cremation and addressing associated emissions.
The bio-methanation plant in Gobindgarh representing sustainable urban environmental management, enables biodegradable organic waste processing to generate biogas, helping divert suitable waste from conventional disposal routes and supporting resource recovery. When integrated with effective waste segregation and plant operations, such facilities can contribute to better waste management and reduced environmental impacts.
Together, these initiatives illustrate the importance of addressing air pollution through multiple interventions, ranging from cleaner technologies and waste processing to public participation and preventive action.
The initiative demonstrates how technological solutions can complement existing practices and support cleaner air without disregarding community preferences. It also offers a potential model for assessment and replication in other cities, subject to performance evaluation and local requirements.
Punjab’s contribution to the national clean-air mission
The inclusion of these initiatives in CPCB’s NCAP best-practices compendium underscores the value of developing locally relevant solutions that can inform environmental action elsewhere. It also highlights the importance of combining technological interventions with community engagement and sustained implementation.
National recognition for Punjab’s clean-air initiatives reinforces our belief that lasting environmental change comes from combining scientific solutions with people’s participation. From Mission Clean Patiala, which makes cleanliness a shared civic responsibility, to pollution-control technology at traditional crematoria, our focus is on addressing pollution at its source and building models that can be scaled across the state. Our vision is to make Rangla Punjab a reality defined by cleaner air, healthier communities and sustainable development. We will continue to innovate, collaborate and turn environmental commitments into tangible improvements in people’s lives,” says PPCB Chairperson Reena Gupta.
