E-Paper
Pune air quality deteriorated in 2022: NCAP Report
The latest report attempts to analyse the implementation and progress of the NCAP towards reducing air pollution levels since its launch in January 2019
A report titled ‘Tracing the Hazy Air 2023: Progress Report on National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)’ released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) on the fourth anniversary of the NCAP highlights that Pune could not achieve its performance target under the NCAP and showed deterioration of air quality.
The latest report attempts to analyse the implementation and progress of the NCAP towards reducing air pollution levels since its launch in January 2019. The review takes stock of the progress in governance and management of ambient air quality in the country till December 2022.
As per the annual average PM10 data reported by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 34 out of the 82 cities funded under the NCAP achieved their performance targets during 2021-22. Similarly, only four out of the 42 urban agglomerations achieved a 15% reduction in annual average PM10 during 2021-22 as compared to levels reported during 2020-21, leaving most cities far away from their concentration reduction targets for FY 2021-22. The 2021-22 annual average PM10 (µg/m3) for Pune was 85 against the target of 58.65, showing higher air pollution levels. In the year 2020-2021 too, the air pollution levels remained higher for Pune as the annual average PM10 (µg/m3) was 69.
Commenting on the findings, Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at CREA, said, “The country is making progress towards resolving the air pollution crisis but the severity of the situation demands more urgent, efficient and systematic solutions. India needs to move to a sectoral emission load reduction-based approach for air quality management as it is only the reduction in consumption of polluting fuels and efficient pollution control at the source that will improve air quality in the long run.”
About Pune’s air quality, Mangesh Dighe, environment officer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said, “Pune’s air quality is mostly in the satisfactory to moderate level. During the monsoon, it is satisfactory and then it is at a moderate level. The challenge is to not let it deteriorate. Currently to ensure better air quality, there is an emphasis on cycle tracks and electric public transport buses. The auto-rickshaws are also running on CNG and all the newly registered vehicles are BS6 which are comparatively cleaner than BS4. The city is blessed with hills and has a lot of biodiversity which must be conserved.”
The NCAP is India’s first national policy on curbing air pollution, and aims for a 20 to 30% reduction in particulate matter pollution by 2024 as compared to 2017 levels. Launched in January 2019 in the midst of Delhi and several other Indian cities ranking among the world’s most polluted cities, the NCAP aims to improve air quality through coordinated efforts across sectors, stakeholders and state- and central- government schemes. While the NCAP is nearing the end of its first stage next year, the government plans on revamping it in mission mode with a specific focus through action plans for critical polluting sectors such as transport, power and industries among others.
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‘National Clean Air City’ Awards were given to the nine best-performing cities under the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2022.
In the first category of cities, Lucknow was awarded the first prize of Rs1.5 crore for reducing average ambient PM10 concentration by 31% from 2019-20 to 2021-22.
In the second category, Moradabad won the first prize of Rs75 lakhs in cash for reducing PM10 concentration by 36%.
And in the third category, Dewas bagged the first prize of Rs37.5 lakhs in cash.
The CPCB data also revealed that 15 out of the 131 non-attainment cities were within the annual NAAQS standard of 60 µg/m3.
