Clean air targets not met in National Capital Region

NEW DELHI: Air quality in Delhi and its satellite cities has failed to improve significantly in the three years since the launch of the National Clean Air Programme, as annual levels of PM 2.5 in the capital fell by a mere 5% to an annual reading of 102 micrograms per cubic metre (mcm) in 2021 from 108 mcm in 2019, a private tracker showed.

The annual level of PM 2.5, minute dust that enters deep into the lungs and bloodstream, was two and a half times the national annual benchmark of 40 mcm, and as much as 20 times the safe limit prescribed by the World Health Organization. The clean air programme aims to reduce air pollution by 20-30% across 132 cities by 2024, a target that Delhi looks sure to miss.

Delhi recorded an annual PM 10 reduction of just 4.6%, dropping from a reading of 217 mcm in 2019 to 207 mcm in 2021, over three times the benchmark of 60 mcm, according to data analysed by an NCAP tracker developed by advocacy groups Respirer Living Sciences and Carbon Copy. The tracker compiles Central Pollution Control Board’s data from its continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations.

The central government launched NCAP on January 10, 2019, to address air pollution in 102 cities, to which 30 more were added later. None of these cities met the national ambient air quality standards between 2011 and 2015 under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme.

Ghaziabad on the outskirts of Delhi remained the most polluted among the 132 cities, recording a marginal drop in the annual PM 2.5 levels from 117 mcm in 2019 to 111 mcm in 2021. Noida fared a little better, dropping down to 98 mcm last year compared to 114 mcm 2019.

Not much has changed between 2019 and 2021, with the same cities occupying the list of the most polluted cities in the world in 2021 as they were in 2019, said Ronak Sutaria, chief executive of Respirer Living Sciences .

“The pollution in these cities is affecting the entire airshed, and solutions need to be thought about across political and governance boundaries,” Sutaria said.

The only two times Delhi saw good air quality in the past six months was due to heavy rainfall, which settled down the pollutants, pointed out Aarti Khosla, director at Climate Trends, which runs Carbon Copy.

“This alone speaks strongly on how much any policy goals have created an impact,” Khosla said. “The new Air Quality Commission for Delhi does talk about tackling air pollution as a region, but a lot more is required still.”