The analysis said that Delhi marginally lowered its PM level.
New Delhi:
Delhi and most other non-attainment cities have shown only marginal improvement under the National Clean Air Program, or NCAP, launched exactly three years ago, a new analysis released on Monday said. Some cities have even registered an increase in the level of particulate matter (PM).
Cities are declared non-attainment if they fail to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for a period of five consecutive years.
The Centre’s National Clean Air Program (NCAP) was implemented across India in 2019 to reduce particulate matter levels by 20-30 percent in 132 cities by 2024.
An analysis by NCAP Tracker, a joint project of news portal ‘Carbon Copy’ and Maharashtra-based start-up ‘Respirer Living Sciences’, designed to track India’s progress in achieving clean air goals, showed Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh ranked highest. Polluted cities (particulate matter that is 10 microns or less in diameter) out of 132 non-attainment cities with highest levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10.
Delhi was the second most polluted city in the list of cities with highest PM 2.5 levels and fourth among cities with highest PM 10 levels.
The analysis said that despite the capital city’s continued focus on air pollution woes, Delhi has marginally lowered its PM levels.
“Based on Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) data, its PM 2.5 level fell from 108 ug/m3 in 2019 to 102 ug/m3 in 2021 and its PM 10 level decreased from 217 ug/m3 to 207 ug/m3 During the same period,” it said, adding that Delhi’s PM 2.5 level is 2.5 times the CPCB’s safe limit of 40 ug/m3 and 20 times the WHO’s safe limit of 5ug/m3.
“The data shows there has been little or no progress on the ground. An analysis of the government’s air quality data shows that most non-attainment cities have not only seen modest reductions in PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels, but Some have even registered an increase.” “The analysis pointed out.
According to the three-year comparative analysis, Ghaziabad, with an annual PM 2.5 level above 100, topped the table among the most polluted cities, except in 2020, when Lucknow ranked first with an annual PM 2.5 level of 116.
“Most other cities like Noida, Delhi, Moradabad and Jodhpur saw only marginal decline in PM 2.5 levels and remained among the top 10 polluted non-attainment cities throughout the year. Ranked 5th in 2019 to 37th in 2021.
Cities where PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels were available for 2019 and 2021 and monitors had at least 50 per cent uptime, Varanasi recorded the highest reduction and only 36 out of 132 cities met the criteria.
Other cities that have already met their reduction target of at least 20 percent are Hubli, West Bengal, where PM 2.5 and PM 10 reduced by 42 percent and 40 percent respectively, and Talcher, Odisha, which has PM 2.5. shortage was observed. 20 percent and 53 percent reduction in PM10.
A 26 per cent drop in PM10 levels was recorded in Ahmedabad. On the other hand, Navi Mumbai’s PM 2.5 level increased from 39 ug/m3 to 53 ug/m3 and PM 10 level increased from 96 ug/m3 to 122 ug/m3 in two years.
With little gain in terms of PM reduction, recent data from the Environment Ministry shows that the money spent across states is also disappointing.
Under NCAP, Rs 375.44 crore has been allocated to 114 cities during the year 2018-19 to 2020-2021 and Rs 290 crore to 82 cities for the financial year 2021-2022. The analysis says that an allocation of Rs 700 crore has been made for 2021-2026 in the programme.
“However, data recently presented to the National Apex Committee of the NCAP showed that most states have made little use of the funds allocated to them,” it said.
With only three months in the next financial year, only Bihar and Chandigarh have achieved utilization of 76 per cent and 81 per cent respectively.
Uttar Pradesh, which has many of the most polluted cities, has utilized only 16 per cent of the Rs 60 crore allocated to it.
Maharashtra, the state with the highest number of non-attainment cities, has utilized less than 8 per cent of the Rs 51 crore allocated.
Maharashtra’s Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Nashik saw an increase in their pollution levels from 2019 to 2021, according to CAAQMS data.
Raunak Sutaria, CEO and Founder, Respirator Living Sciences, said that the top 10 most polluted cities from 2019 continue to occupy the table in 2021 as well.
He said, “It shows how difficult the problem of reducing air pollution is… Ghaziabad remains the #1 most polluted city along with Delhi #2 and Noida #3. The sources in these cities are affecting the entire airshed. are,” he said.
Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, credits the rains for reducing pollution in Delhi, saying the governance of air quality issues is not making the necessary progress.
“Delhi has had good air quality twice in the last six months because of the reduction in pollutants from above-normal rainfall and not much due to efforts to reduce air pollution,” he said.
Ms. Khosla said a review of the NCAP over the past three years shows that despite the program’s focus on improving air quality monitoring, only 36 of the 132 non-attainment cities have enough to analyze their performance. data was available.
“Overall, the data reflect low fund utilization. Clearly, governance of air quality issues is not progressing on the required scale. Areas with multiple sources of pollution, including local sources such as industry, transportation, construction, and geographic and meteorological factors are also included in the list as recurrent defaulters.
“The new Air Quality Commission for Delhi talks about tackling air pollution as a region, but much more is needed to get good institutions and control air quality,” she said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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