97 cities improve air quality, 55 achieve 20% dip in key pollutant: Report

The Environment Ministry on Monday informed Parliament that 97 of the 130 cities targeted under the National Clean Air Programme have shown improvement in air quality as compared to 2017-18, with 55 recording a more than 20 per cent reduction.
In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, significant improvement in air quality was registered in 97 cities across the country, with Varanasi topping the chart with a 68 per cent reduction in PM10 levels.
The second best performing city was Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, where PM10 levels were brought down from 207 to 80, a reduction of 61 micrograms per cubic metre, while the third was Firozabad, where the PM10 came down from 247 to 102, a decline of 59 micrograms per cubic metre.
Meanwhile, Delhi was ranked 67 on the list, with the PM10 levels coming down from 241 in 2017-18 to 208 in 2023-24, a decline of just 14 micrograms per cubic metre.
Launched in January 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, NCAP covers 130 cities across 24 states and Union Territories.
NCAP envisages a reduction in PM10 levels by up to 40 per cent or achievement of national standards (60 microgram/cubic meter) by 2025-26.
According to Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, the improvements have been supported by city-specific action plans targeting the sources of pollution such as vehicular emissions, road dust, and industrial pollution.
Financial backing under the 15th Finance Commission’s Air Quality Performance Grants has been instrumental, with Rs 11,211.13 crore allocated between 2019-20 and 2023-24, he said.
“Due to efforts made under the programme, 97 cities out of 130 cities have shown improvement in air quality in terms of annual PM10 concentrations in FY 2023-24 with respect to the levels of FY 2017-18. 55 cities have achieved reduction of 20% and above in PM10 levels in 2023-24 with respect to the levels of 2017-18. 18 cities have met National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10 (60 μg/m3) in FY 2023-24,” the government’s reply read.
The worst performing cities and towns, where pollution of PM 10 has only increased by more than 30 micrograms per cubic metres, included Nagaon, Aurangabad, Gaya, Bhubaneswar, Jalgaon, Cuttack, Nalbari, Balasore, Visakhapatnam and Angul, the government’s reply highlighted.