New Delhi: Pollution levels in 25 Indian cities listed under the government’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) have witnessed a spike instead of an intended decline, the Lok Sabha was informed Monday.
Responding to a question by MPs Anil Yeshwant Desai (Shiv Sena-UBT) and Babu Singh Kushwaha (Jan Adhikar Party), the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said, “Focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities showing reduction in PM10 concentration in 2024-25 with respect to 2017-18.”
The data included with the written response, however, showed that while a majority of the cities did witness a reduction in PM10 levels—set as a marker under the NCAP to monitor pollution levels in the chosen cities—there were at least 25 cities in the list where the levels went up.
Data for two cities—Faridabad (Haryana) and Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir)—were not available, according to the response.
The worst-performing cities have been Aurangabad and Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Nalgonda (Telangana). The data showed that Aurangabad recorded a 33.3 percent rise in PM10 levels in 2024-25 compared to 2017-18, which was the highest spike among the 130 NCAP cities.
In Vishakhapatnam and Jalgaon, the spike was 32.9 percent and in Nalgonda, it was 32.2 percent during the same period.
In 2019, the MoEFCC launched the NCAP with the aim of improving air quality in 130 cities. This national programme had set the target for a 40 percent reduction in PM10 concentrations by 2026. To facilitate this, the Centre has allocated a sum of Rs 10,422.73 crore.
The initial plan was to achieve a 20-30 percent reduction by 2024 from 2017 levels. However, this was later revised to 40 percent by 2026.
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Government data
The ministry’s response shows that 25 cities under the government’s air quality improvement programme have recorded a rise in PM10 levels compared to the baseline year of 2017.
Apart from the four worst performing cities mentioned above, the other cities that recorded a rise include Bhubneshwar (1.2 percent), Raipur (7.1 percent), Gaya (10.1 percent) Srikakulam (14.5 percent) and Korba (21.1 percent).
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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