This article discusses about one of the most pressing environmental challenges faced by Indian cities – Air Pollution. Also, this piece talk about the sources of the air pollution analysing the latest available data along with the policy assessment of National Clean air program (NCAP) which aim to improve the air quality of selected 131 Indian cities.

According to the 2021 Air Quality Guidelines of WHO, PM 2.5, PM 10, Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), Sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and Carbon dioxide (CO₂) are the major pollutant which influences the air quality in a particular city. Of these, PM 10 & PM 2.5 are the most dangerous pollutants. PM 10 is nothing but particulate matter with diameter near to 10 micro meters. A normal human hair usually has a width of 70 micrometers. These PM 10 particles are 7 times smaller than human hair. These PM 10 particles deposit in lungs and create many respiratory problems like breathing problems, lung irritation, chronic bronchitis etc.

According to the WHO’s 2021 Air quality guidelines Road dust, construction dust, cement dust, smoke particles and Industrial dust are the significant sources for these PM 10 particles in the air. WHO air quality guidelines document also highlighted that PM 2.5 is even more dangerous than PM 10. PM 2.5 particles are Particulate matter in the air with diameter less than 2.5 micro meters which means 30 times smaller than the average human hair.

Diesel vehicle’s exhaust, Coal power plants, Industrial combustion, Biomass burning (kind of stubble burning), household cooking fuels etc. are the sources of PM 2.5 particles in air. This leads to Lung diseases, Heart attacks, lung cancer and other deadly diseases. For thoroughly monitoring the pollutant levels the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) launched NAAQS (National ambient air quality standards) in 1982 and we are following the latest revisions of 2009 in which PM 2.5 was also included as one of the major pollutants. In 2014, the present NDA Government had launched NAQI (National Air Quality Index) which will give consolidated score of 8 pollutants which includes PM 10 and PM 2.5 along with other 6 pollutants responsible for air pollution.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) has been launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as a comprehensive initiative in partnership with various Ministries and States to improve air quality at city, regional and national level. It is a focused and time bound scheme to implement various sectoral policies, strengthen monitoring and enhance public participation in 130 cities for effective air quality management.

As part of this NCAP all 130 cities should come up with Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) which is an emergency pollution control framework required implementing in all cities that activates progressively stricter measures when the Air Quality Index crosses specified pollution thresholds. This GRAP will be supervised by the Commission of Air quality management.

Along with this, the States and cities are also required to come up with their City Air Action Plans which are city specific long term sstrategies designed to identify major pollution sources and implement targeted measures to reduce air pollution and improve urban air quality. Also, all these cities are required to create Public Grievance Redressal systems which will address the citizen grievances related to the air pollution.

As per the Indian Government’s PRANA (Portal for Regulation of Air-Pollution in Non-Attainment cities) website, all 130 cities comply 100% with GRAP, City Air Action Plans (CAAP) and Public Grievance Redressal systems. As per PIB Report on 25^th July 2024, 95 cities out of 131 cities have shown improvement in air quality in terms of annual PM10 concentrations in FY 2023-24 with respect to the baseline of FY 2017-18. 18 cities have met National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10 (60 µg/m3) in FY 2023-24.

Under NCAP, Rs.2408.19 Crores have been cumulatively released to non-attainment cities from FY 2019-20 till date. In addition, since the financial year 2020–21, the government has provided Rs.11,457.34 crores in grants to 42 large urban cities with populations over one million under the 15^th Finance Commission. Further, the City Action Plan (CAPs) of 130 cities is implemented by coordinated action of state government and its agencies at state and city level.

The funding for implementation of CAPs is also being mobilized through convergence of resources from various schemes of Central Government such as SBM (Urban), AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), Smart City Mission, SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation), PM E-Drive (Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement), etc. and resources from State/UT Governments and its agencies such as Municipal Corporation, Urban Development authorities and Industrial development authorities etc. The funding from NCAP/XV-FC is a performance based supplemental grant for funding the unfunded critical gap of CAP.

So, can we conclude that NCAP served the purpose? The answer is partially yes. But there is still a room for improvement. NCAP was launched in 2019 aimed to reduce PM 10 levels by 20-30% when compared to 2017 levels by 2024. Many cities could not achieve that as air pollution is a very complex program and most of the cities were not even considered air pollution as serious problem to be tackled before NCAP.

So, the governments felt it is not pragmatic to get the desired results by that time and extended the deadline with revised targets to 2026. Target has been set to achieve reduction in PM10 level up to 40% by 2025-26 from the levels of 2019-20. These interim targets are in line with global experiences which highlight those city specific actions led to 35%–40% PM2.5 reduction in five years for cities, such as Beijing and Seoul, whereas cities, such as Santiago and Mexico City have shown 73% and 61% reduction in 22 to 25 years with regard to PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, respectively. But, the first phase of NCAP has at least brought significant policy attention to the issue of urban air pollution.

One cannot deny the fact that there might be few bottlenecks in implementation of the NCAP. The following are the potential bottlenecks which I found in implementation of NCAP:

• Fragmented governance and institutional overlap: Air pollution management in India involves multiple institutions such as the Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Boards, Urban Local Bodies, and transport departments. Since responsibilities are spread across different agencies, coordination problems often arise. Lack of clear accountability and weak inter-agency communication can slow down decision-making and delay the implementation of pollution control measures.
• Weak enforcement of existing regulations: Although several rules exist to control pollution, such as regulations on construction dust, waste burning, and industrial emissions their enforcement is often inconsistent. In many cities, violations are not monitored effectively and penalties are rarely imposed strictly. As a result, compliance with pollution control measures remains low, which reduces the overall effectiveness of NCAP interventions.
• Administrative and capacity constraints: Many smaller cities lack adequate technical manpower, environmental experts, and administrative capacity to implement pollution control projects. Local authorities may face difficulties in planning, executing, and monitoring air quality improvement initiatives. Limited financial and technical resources can therefore slow down the implementation of NCAP at the city level.
• Regional and transboundary pollution: Air pollution does not remain confined within the boundaries of a single city. Pollutants can travel long distances through wind and atmospheric movement. Activities such as crop residue burning in neighbouring states or industrial emissions from nearby regions can significantly affect the air quality of a city. This means that city-level policies alone may not be sufficient, and regional coordination becomes necessary. We have seen in case of recent Delhi’s Air pollution issue where there is lot of blame game happened between Delhi leaders and surrounded state leaders.
• Data and monitoring limitations: Accurate data is essential for identifying pollution sources and evaluating the success of policy interventions. However, many cities in India still have an insufficient number of air quality monitoring stations. In some cases, issues related to equipment maintenance and data reliability also arise. These gaps in monitoring make it difficult to assess pollution trends and design effective policy responses.
• Seasonal and meteorological influences: Weather conditions play an important role in determining air pollution levels. During winter, phenomena such as temperature inversion can trap pollutants close to the ground, preventing them from dispersing. This leads to sudden spikes in pollution levels even if emissions remain constant. Such seasonal and meteorological factors complicate the implementation and evaluation of long-term air quality improvement measures.

  On 25^th July 2024, In a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha about air pollution, Honorable minister of state for Ministry of Forest Environment and Climate Change Sri. Kirti Vardhan Singh mentioned following measures the government is planning to implement in coming days to tackle the air pollution:

  • Revision of emission standards for industrial sectors from time to time.
  • Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality.
  • Introduction of cleaner/alternate fuels like gases fuel (CNG, LPG, etc.).
  • Promotion of ethanol blending.
  • Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards.
  • Introduction of BS VI compliant vehicles across the country since April, 2020.
  • Notification of Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules.
  • Installation of on-line continuous (24×7) monitoring devices by major industries.
  • Shifting of all operational brick kilns to zig-zag technology as Traditional brick kilns (especially Bull’s Trench Kilns) burn coal inefficiently and release large amounts of PM2.5, PM10, black carbon, and other pollutants. Zig-zag technology was introduced to reduce these emissions and improve fuel efficiency.

    These measures are sounding very promising and hopefully the NCAP will achieve its target in coming 4-5 years. There are high chances for revising the timelines but still we are in good track as I already mentioned, even some of the best global cities took time to achieve their current best positions. It is equally important to bring awareness among the people as one-sided efforts will not be sustained for long term success.

    The Author is Public Policy Fellow at AgaPuram Policy Research Centre, Erode

    The views expressed by the author are personal and does not reflect or represent the views of the AgaPuram Policy Research Centre, Erode.