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Despite receiving significant financial allocations to tackle air pollution, India's major metropolitan cities have shown minimal progress in improving air quality over the past year. The Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 (Clean Air Study), recently published by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has highlighted the disappointing performance of these megacities, where millions of people reside.
The survey ranked cities based on actions approved under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and found that most major cities are at the bottom of the rankings.
Out of 47 cities with populations exceeding one million, Delhi performed best, ranking 11th, followed by Bengaluru in 28th place and Mumbai in 32nd. Kolkata ranked 41st, while Chennai fared the worst among the metros, finishing 46th.
The analyses were based on self-assessment reports and supporting documents submitted by urban local bodies, which were then vetted by respective Air Quality Monitoring Committees, chaired by state environment secretaries, the report said. These were subsequently evaluated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for final rankings.
Senior government officials and independent experts have raised concerns about the uniform benchmarking of larger and smaller cities. Some experts also acknowledged the need for broader multi-sectoral environmental action.
“All 130 cities covered under the NCAP were assessed based on information submitted through the ranking framework on Portal for Regulation of Air Pollution in Non-Attainment Cities (PRANA),” the report read. PRANA is the dashboard used to track progress under the NCAP programme.
The report further mentioned that assessments are conducted annually, ranking cities based on performance over the previous financial year (April 1- March 31). Control measures across eight identified sectors are weighted accordingly.
Biomass and municipal solid waste burning, road dust, vehicular emissions and industrial emissions each account for 20 per cent of the score.
Construction and demolition dust is weighted at 5 per cent, while improvements in concentrations of particulate matter that is 10 micrometers or less in diameter (PM10) and public awareness activities are weighted at 2.5 per cent each. Control of other emissions receives a 10 per cent weighting.
While major cities slid back in the rankings, Surat in Gujarat topped the list with a score of 194, followed by Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
“These cities have been recognised for significant improvements in air quality, achieved through adopting various best practices aimed at mitigating air pollution,” the report stated, highlighting key actions that contributed to their success.
These include full road paving, mechanical street sweeping, bioremediation of legacy waste, solid waste management and greenbelt development, among others. Development of reclaimed land of dumpsites, intelligent traffic management system and Miyawaki forestation played a role too.
Among the country’s major cities, Delhi ranked highest with a score of 181 (11th nationally), followed by Hyderabad in 25th place (163.3), Mumbai in 28th (159), Bengaluru in 32nd (155.1), Kolkata in 41st (137.8) and Chennai at the bottom with a score of 101.3 (45th overall).
The PRANA website, as of September 5, 2024, showed that of the Rs 11,211 crore allocated for air pollution control, six major cities received Rs 3,285 crore (nearly 30 per cent). However, these cities have shown minimal improvement in air pollution control, utilising just over 60 per cent of the funds on average. The range of utilisation varies from 22 per cent in Bengaluru to almost full usage in Chennai.
Despite varying levels of fund utilisation, improvements in air pollution control remain limited. While Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai recorded slight increases in PM10 pollution levels, other cities saw marginal improvements.
The multi-sector action needs massive scaling up in the targeted cities to reduce air pollution. But the ranking, which is based on self-reported data from cities, must be transparent and accessible to help validate what is working, not working and the magnitude of change on ground in cities
Anumita Roychowdhury, air pollution expert and executive director, research and advocacy, Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment
Kalyan Rudra, chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, noted that major cities face heightened challenges and criticised the practice of using the same ranking criteria for all cities, despite significant differences in their scale, complexity and exposure.
“For instance, Kolkata, located near the southern edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain, is a recipient of transborder air pollution. How can it be compared to cities that generate pollution?” argued Rudra. He also mentioned raising this issue during a recent World Bank meeting on air pollution.
However, he acknowledged that Kolkata needs to phase out highly polluting diesel-powered vehicles. Rudra also suggested a greater emphasis on fine particulate matter PM2.5 levels, as they are more toxic, though currently, PM10 is used as the primary improvement indicator.
“The major sources of PM10 pollution in a city need to be identified and the weightings should be adjusted accordingly. Weightings should be city-specific, rather than generalised,” Professor Abhijit Chatterjee, an air pollution expert at the Bose Institute and an advisor to the NCAP, stated.
