The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in India in 2019 and aimed to significantly enhance the air quality in India by 2024 by reducing PM concentration by 20-30 per cent, which in 2022 has been extended to 2026, aiming to have a 40% reduction in pollution levels compared to 2017. The programme has faced challenges and shortcomings, as highlighted in the ‘Tracing the Hazy Air 2022 & 2023‘ reviews. The latest report evaluates the progress under NCAP and ambient air quality trends for 2023, revealing critical findings:
- Air Information Centers and Pollution Forecasting:
- NCAP aimed to establish air information centres at central and regional levels by 2020; however, as of December 2023, only the central ‘Portal for Regulation of Air Pollution in Non-Attainment Cities (PRANA)’ portal by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is functional.
- Despite NCAP’s goal for air pollution forecasting systems in non-attainment cities by 2022, only Delhi has a functional system by December 2023.
- Committee Setup and Utilization of Funds:
- Committees at various levels were proposed by NCAP, but their functionality, transparency, and public availability of information remain challenging.
- Out of total allocations of 1253 crore to 82 non-attainment cities, only 498 crores (40%) was utilized till November 2023 while 49 million plus cities were allocated 9610 crores out of which 5909 crore (62%) was utilised, showing significant underutilization of the allocated funds.
- Monitoring Stations and Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations:
- NCAP envisaged augmenting the manual monitoring stations under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) from the existing 703 stations to 1,500 stations by 2024, but as of December 2023, only 931 manual stations were operational, with a minimal increase from the previous year, showing critical shortfall against the target.
- NCAP aimed for 150 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), but 531 stations are currently operational, indicating very good progress.
- The rural monitoring network consists of 26 manual stations covering limited areas. Efforts to set up 100 monitoring stations by 2024 in rural areas are yet to be fully realized and seem difficult to achieve.
- Source Apportionment:
- Only 44 out of 131 non-attainment cities conducted source apportionment studies by December 2023.
- Air Quality and Most Polluted Cities:
- Byrnihat (301 µg m-3) in Assam, Begusarai (265 µg m-3) in Bihar, and Greater Noida (228 µg m-3) in Uttar Pradesh were among the most polluted cities in 2023.
- Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan), Chhapra (Bihar), Patna (Bihar), Hanumangarh (Rajasthan), Delhi, Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), and Faridabad (Haryana) were the other cities in the top 10 most polluted cities list in India in 2023 holding respective positions from fourth to 10th in order of mention.
- Of the top 50 polluted cities, Bihar (19) had the highest representation, followed by Haryana (8) and Rajasthan (8).
- Data Availability and Compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards:
- Of the 227 cities with over 75% data availability days in 2023, 85 cities were under NCAP. Additionally, 142 cities were not covered by NCAP. Within the NCAP cities, 78 exceeded PM10 levels above National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Conversely, among the non-NCAP cities, 118 surpassed NAAQS for PM10 levels.
- This highlights widespread air quality concerns, emphasizing the need to reassess the list of non-attainment cities. Such reassessment is crucial to reverse the trend of increasing air pollution levels in cities with recent ambient air quality monitoring but recording pollution levels above the prescribed standards.
In conclusion, the report underscores the need for enhanced coordination, monitoring, and effective utilization of allocated funds to achieve the ambitious goals set by NCAP for improving air quality in India.
