NCAP-Airpocalypse III Report

NCAP-Airpocalypse III Report

Question: How many cities are violating air quality norms that have not been included in the non-attainment list under recently launched NCAP (National Clean Air Programme): Airpocalypse III Report?
(a) 139
(b) 150
(c) 200
(d) 250
Answer: (a)
Related facts:

  • Overall 139 cities have not been included in the non-attainment list under the NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) Airpocalypse III Report.
  • National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in its current form and ambition is only a good first step on a long journey. For the first step to be meaningful it must be followed by other measures and several lacunae must be addressed.
  • Public participation is critical in the fight against air pollution. The right to clean air is in fact the right to life and political parties must be queried on their plans to deliver clean air for India.
  • Out of them there are several cities that have a population of more than 1 million, and PM10 levels (recorded in 2017) above NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards).
  • These cities are: Ranchi, Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh); Chennai, Madurai (Tamil Nadu); Meerut (Uttar Pradesh); Pimpri-Chindwar, Thane, (Maharashtra); Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara (Gujarat); Howrah (West Bengal) etc.
  • The NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) also mentions that the list of 102 non-attainment cities includes 43 cities identified under Smart Cities programme.
  • Earlier, A comparison of the list of smart cities with the list of 313 cities with 2017 annual PM10 data, shows that there are in fact 65 smart cities that should fall in the non-attainment list.
  • There are an additional 20 Smart Cities for which data on Air Quality was not available.
  • Only 12 Smart Cities had PM10 levels below 60 µg/m3 which is the annual standard for PM10 prescribed by CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) under NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards).

Links:
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/139-cities-violating-air-quality-norms-not-included-in-ncap-report-119012900992_1.html
https://www.businesstoday.in/pti-feed/139-cities-violating-air-quality-norms-not-included-in-ncap-report/story/314867.html
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/airpocalypse-iii.pdf