Credit: DH File Photo
New Delhi: Rajasthan has requested the Centre to include five more cities from the state in the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), citing its arid topography and unfavourable climatic conditions, according to official records.
Chhattisgarh has also urged the Union environment ministry to bring Raigarh district into the NCAP fold.
During a meeting of the National Apex Committee under the NCAP, Rajasthan Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant requested that given the state's arid topography and its climatic conditions, Ajmer, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bhilwara and Jaisalmer be included.
R Sangeeta, principal secretary in Chhattisgarh's Environment Department, also requested the inclusion of Raigarh in the programme due to "rising pollution levels".
In July, the Centre approved a coal mining project in Raigarh district, just six months after the National Green Tribunal revoked its environmental clearance.
A carrying capacity and cumulative impact assessment by IIT-Patna found that while sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution levels in Raigarh are within safe limits, particulate matter levels are approaching the maximum allowed for industrial zones.
India launched NCAP in 2019 with a target to reduce particulate pollution by 20-30 percent by 2024 compared to 2017 levels. The government later revised the target to a 40 percent reduction by 2026 from 2019-20 levels.
The programme currently covers 131 non-attainment cities -- those that consistently failed to meet national ambient air quality standards between 2011 and 2015.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, 21 cities and urban agglomerations have reduced PM10 pollution by 40 per cent compared to 2017-18 levels. These are Varanasi, Dhanbad, Byrnihat, Bareilly, Firozabad, Dehradun, Tuticorin, Nalagarh, Moradabad, Khurja, Trichy, Kohima, Lucknow, Kanpur, Kadapa, Sivasagar, Sunder Nagar, Agra, Greater Mumbai, Rishikesh, and Parwanoo.
Overall, 95 of the 131 cities have shown improvement in air quality. However, only 18 of the NCAP cities currently meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10, set at 60 micrograms per cubic metre.