Air quality worsens as NCAP completes 4 years

Mumbai: As the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) completed four years on Tuesday, only Ulhasnagar has achieved a marginal improvement in air quality in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) over the last two years, according to the latest edition of NCAP progress report—Tracing the Hazy Air (2023)—released by Delhi-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)

Mumbai: As the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) completed four years on Tuesday, only Ulhasnagar has achieved a marginal improvement in air quality in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) over the last two years, according to the latest edition of NCAP progress report—Tracing the Hazy Air (2023)—released by Delhi-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

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From a PM10 concentration of 85µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre) in 2019, the city’s PM10 level fell to 77µg/m3 in 2022, against a target of 81µg/m3.

“All other cities in the MMR (Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Vasai-Virar and Badlapur) have shown worsening air quality between 2019 and 2022,” Sunil Dahiya, an analyst with the CREA, said.

According to the analysis, Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai and Badlapur together recorded an average annual PM10 level of 103µg/m3 last year, which is in excess of the 60µg/m3 threshold considered ‘safe’ as per the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This was a rise from a baseline of 98µg/m3 in 2020 and also significantly higher than the reduction target of 83µg/m3 for the year. Meanwhile, Vasai-Virar showed a worrying jump in pollution levels with an average PM10 level of 174µg/m3 in 2022, up from 43µg/m3 in 2020 and against a target of 36.5µg/m3.

“We have seen recent reports of some AQI monitors in Mumbai, showing levels similar to Delhi. This does not mean that the air in Mumbai is on the whole worse than the capital, but it certainly implies that there are hotspots in Mumbai that have a much heavier emission load than even some localities in Delhi. Going after emissions at source and rooting out the hotspots is urgently needed across the MMR,” he suggested.

Mumbai’s worsening pollution woes were also evident in another analysis released by NCAP Tracker, a public dashboard operated by research and consulting group Climate Trends, on Tuesday.

Their analysis shows that Mumbai was the seventh least polluted city in India in 2019, with respect to PM2.5 levels. The concentration increased from 34 µg/m3 in 2019 to 49µg/m3 in 2022 and the city has now dropped to the 23rd least polluted city.

The NCAP Tracker’s analysis also attributed this to an increase in the city’s monitoring infrastructure. “In 2019, there were just nine Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) in Mumbai, which improved to 20 in 2022. Clearly, a wider network of data allowed for an improved understanding of pollution trends in the city,” the analysis emphasised. A similar slip in Navi Mumbai’s ranking was also observed with the city’s annual PM2.5 level increasing from 39µg/m3 to 52µg/m3.

VM Motghare, joint director (air quality), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), did not respond to requests for comment.

Pravin Darade, principal secretary (environment), however, blamed urban local bodies for their inability to fend off rising pollution levels. “The environment department and the MPCB are just monitoring agencies. The ULBs have been slow to implement the NCAP in full, but we have been cracking the whip on them. The chief secretary recently held a meeting with all the municipalities and instructed them to pursue the NCAP more seriously,” Darade said.

The NCAP was initially aimed at reducing the concentration of key air pollutants PM10 and PM2.5 by 20-30% in 2024 (as compared to base levels in 2017) in 112 cities across the country. However, in September 2022, the government set a new target of 40% reduction in particulate matter concentration by 2026.