Towards the goal of clean air and blue skies for India
With substantial investments made, and planned, to address existing pollution issues, the need is now for citizen consciousness on several fronts, from environmentally-friendly consumption to supporting green initiatives
Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk of our time. Access to clean air isn’t just a right, but ensuring our children continue to see and paint the skies blue is also a duty incumbent upon us as the Earth’s custodians.
International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, which we are marking today, offers an occasion to renew our commitment to fight air pollution. This year’s theme, Invest in Clean Air Now, is a call to action that India has been aligned with over the last ten years of governance led by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. The government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 with an objective to improve air quality in 131 cities across 24 states and Union Territories. NCAP follows a comprehensive, integrated, and collaborative approach to address air pollution problems in targeted cities. It operates through a collaborative, multi-scale, and cross-sectoral coordination approach between relevant central ministries, state governments, and local bodies.
The 15th Finance Commission, through its Million Plus Cities Challenge Fund (MPCCF), provided ₹16,539 crore for targeted actions in 49 cities and urban agglomerations with a population of over a million. Besides, critical gap funding of ₹3,072 crore was provided in 82 non-attainment cities under the Union environment ministry’s Central Sector Scheme (CSS) Control of Pollution. As much as ₹11,211.13 crore have been released to these cities so far.
In FY24, an amount of ₹667.14 crore has been released to 82 cities under Control of Pollution. Additionally, the ministry has recommended that department of expenditure (DoE) release ₹1,969 crore out of the annual allocation of ₹2,431 crore to the 49 cities as an air-quality grant. The DoE has so far released ₹1,238.03 crore.
Under NCAP, the government in 2022 also launched the Swachh Vayu Survekshan to rank the 131 cities based on their efforts to mitigate air pollution. The initiative aims to raise awareness about air pollution, motivate citizens, foster competitiveness among cities, and encourage them to perform better on Clean Air for All. The better performing cities are rewarded each year on September 7.
For Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024, the best-performing cities are Surat, Jabalpur, and Agra.
No technocentric approach, however, can clean the air or environment till we are environmentally conscious as a people. To ensure this, the Mission LiFE action plan, envisioned by PM Modi, has been integrated with state and city Clean Air Action Plans to nudge citizens to adopt environment-friendly lifestyles.
The focused actions, convergence of resources and effective monitoring have shown positive results with declining trends of air pollution in 95 cities. As many as 51 cities have shown reduction in PM10 levels by more than 20% with respect to base year 2017-18, and 21 of these cities have achieved a reduction of more than 40%.
Blue skies are best supported by a green Earth. So, the Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam global campaign initiated by the PM on June 5, has also been linked to NCAP. The 131 cities under NCAP have successfully planted a total of 45,75,168 saplings as of September 5. There is also an unprecedented focus on solid waste management because recklessly dumped waste releases harmful substances into the air. A clarion call for turning “waste to wealth” and Mission LiFE remind us to “reduce, reuse and recycle”.
The Smart Cities are using technology for effective waste management. The Waste to Wealth mission will identify and validate innovative technology solutions and models to achieve zero-landfill and become a zero-waste nation.
India is also incentivising scrapping of old, polluting vehicles under its Vehicle Scrapping Policy, and the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (FAME) Vehicles policy has been allocated ₹10,000 crore.
Swachh Vayu Neel Gagan is a goal that cannot be reached without public participation. Therefore, the government is working on a mission mode to increase Jan Bhagidari.
The government initiated the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region (NCR) and Adjoining Areas, Act 2021 to tackle the problem of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The initiative has produced significant results. In 2021, 4,135 out of a total of 7,759 fuel-based industries in NCR used heavy-polluting fuels like coal, diesel, and furnace oil. In just three years, there are none now. While 4,365 brick kilns used coal in 2021, about 2,400 have made the transition to bio-mass-based fuels. Three years ago, compliance to prescribed standards of emissions in industries and devices was low to moderate, but now the compliance is highly satisfactory following effective implementation and strict enforcement, including the temporary closure of 600 units. This has led to a substantial reduction in PM2.5 and other harmful gaseous emissions, such as SOx, and NOx in and around the industrial areas and the ambient air.
While in 2021, no DG sets in NCR had emission control systems, now 8,200 DG sets have them, ensuring a PM reduction of 60-70%.
The PNG infrastructure and supply in NCR in industrial estates has risen from 160 to 220 between 2021 and 2024. The number of EVs has risen from 1,00,975 to 3,00,810. The incidents of paddy stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh NCR have been brought down from 87,571 in 2020 to 39,163 counts in 2023.
Let this day be a call to action for each one of us to contribute to this vital cause. By making conscious choices, supporting green initiatives, and advocating for sustainable practices, we can all play a role in ensuring that our skies remain blue and our air clean.
Bhupender Yadav is Union minister for environment, forests, and climate change.The views expressed are personal