With a mandate under NCAP for implementing programmes to improve the air quality in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, Artha saw an opportunity to address this need by piloting Clean Air Zones (CAZ). Artha’s engagement on the CAZ programme began in late 2022 with conversations with the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), the nodal agency for improving air quality across the state. The focus was on reducing transport sector emissions in non-attainment cities in AP. Over a period of a year, we entered into formal agreements, first with APPCB, and then with the urban local bodies (ULBs) of Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, to socialise and pilot CAZ as a strategy to improve air quality in those cities. In the following two years, we introduced the ULBs to best practices for CAZ implementation, contextualising it to Indian climatic and traffic conditions, built up scientific evidence through primary air quality and transport surveys to understand sources of emissions, and designed bespoke control measures based on detailed stakeholder engagements. 

To build on the stakeholder engagements we have been conducting with state- and municipal-level stakeholders to understand local needs, we have taken on this perception survey study to ensure that citizens are aware and have a say in the implementation of CAZs. In the first two years of the CAZ project, the control measures were narrowed down to three general types: area improvements, public transport enhancements, and parking management strategies. These perception surveys ask the relevant groups of citizens their opinions on the specifics of these control measures. Citizens are asked about their current transportation habits within the CAZ, which specific interventions they would like to see implemented, where within the CAZ they believe the need for these interventions is greatest and generally, whether they think the proposed control measures will improve air quality and health in the CAZ area. The results of this study will be used to prioritise the CAZ interventions and determine exactly where, within the CAZ, certain interventions are needed. Using the results of this survey and insights gathered from previous stakeholder engagements, this report will present a recommended implementation agenda for each city.