Uttar Pradesh

• 12 Jan 2024

Varied Progress in Clean Air Target

Why in News?

Recently, the Climate Trends and Respirer Living Sciences have conducted a study, revealing that the majority of cities are far from the clean air targets of India's National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Key Points

• Among 49 cities with consistent PM2.5 data over five years, only 27 cities showed a decline in PM2.5 levels, while merely four cities met or surpassed the targeted decline as per NCAP Goals.
  • The amount of PM2. 5 in the air is a key indicator of air quality.
  • PM stands for particulate matter, and the 2.5 refers to the size of the matter.
• While some cities like Varanasi, Agra, and Jodhpur exhibited significant reductions in PM2.5 levels, others, including Delhi, reported marginal declines (only 5.9%) or even increased pollution loads.
  • Varanasi showed the most substantial reduction with a 72% average decrease in PM2.5 levels and a 69% reduction in PM10 levels from 2019 to 2023.

National Clean Air Programme

• It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019.
• It is the first-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target.
• The NCAP's goal is to reduce average Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations by 40% by 2026 in 131 cities. Initially aimed for a 20-40% reduction by 2024, the target was later extended to 2026.