Guwahati: Byrnihat in Meghalaya has been identified as the most polluted city in India in 2023, as per a report released on Wednesday by the independent think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). This is followed closely by Begusarai in Bihar and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
The report, based on air quality data from 227 cities, highlighted that Delhi, infamous for its persistent winter air pollution, ranked eighth in the list of most polluted cities. The findings indicated that 78 out of the 85 cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10 levels (60 microgrammes per cubic metre).
Initiated in 2019, the NCAP aims to reduce PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 20-30% in 131 cities by 2024. The government has now set a more stringent target of achieving a 40% reduction in particulate matter concentration in these cities by 2026.
Despite the NCAP’s five-year implementation, only 44 out of the 131 non-attainment cities have concluded source apportionment studies, leading to concerns raised by Sunil Dahia, South Asia’s analyst at CREA. He criticized the allocation of 64% of funds solely for dust mitigation and less effective measures like smog guns, resulting in inefficient use of public funds.
The report further revealed that only 37 NCAP-covered cities achieved PM10 levels below the annual targets. Surprisingly, 118 cities not under NCAP breached the national air ambient quality standards for PM10 in 2023, challenging the assumption that non-NCAP cities are necessarily cleaner.
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Byrnihat, a city covered by NCAP, reported the highest annual average PM10 concentration at 301 microgrammes per cubic metre. In contrast, Silchar in Assam, not under NCAP, reported the lowest PM10 level at 29 microgrammes per cubic metre in 2023. The data underscores the urgent need for more effective measures to address air quality concerns across the nation.
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