Ludhiana is one of the top 10 most polluted cities in India, says Centre in Rajya Sabha
PTC News Desk: According to a response sent to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the industrial centr of Ludhiana has been placed among the top ten most polluted cities in India. On the list of the 10 most polluted cities in the nation with declining air quality, Ludhiana is the only city from Punjab.
The ministry released a list of 131 non-attainment and Million Plus Cities identified under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to improve air quality in response to a question from Andhra Pradesh's Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani. Nathwani asked about the top 20 polluted cities in India and their global pollution rankings.
Ludhiana comes in at number ten on the list, which ranks 131 cities according to their average PM 10 concentration measured in FY 2023–2024, with an average level of 161 µg/m³.
With an average PM 10 level of 208 µg/m³, Delhi, the nation's capital, leads the list. Faridabad, Noida (182), Patna (178), Ghaziabad (172), Muzaffarpur (168), Angul (167), Gajraula (167), and Anpara (166) are next on the list.
According to reports, earlier, Ludhiana was listed among the top 100 most polluting cities in the nation for the first half of 2024 according to a report done by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). However, a research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in less than a month ranked Ludhiana among the top 100 most polluted cities in the nation for the first half of 2024.
Other Punjabi cities included among the 50 most polluted were Mandi Gobindgarh (average PM 10 levels: 126 µg/m³), Amritsar (119 µg/m³), and Jalandhar (111 µg/m³) among the 131 cities chosen for the air quality improvement initiative. The ministry made it clear that "due to variations in monitoring methods and environmental conditions, there is no worldwide ranking of cities for pollution levels."
Similarly, in January and June of 2020, the lowest value of 35 microns was measured. According to CREA analyst Sunil Dahiya, Ludhiana's daily PM 2.5 value above WHO standards on 182 out of the six months, while it exceeded the NAAQS limit on over 40 per cent of those days.
He put this down to transportation, industrial pollutants, and biomass (burned in communities during the winter for cooking and garbage disposal). He went on to say that elevated levels of PM 2.5 have an effect on human health, leading to conditions like respiratory illness, heart problems, and hypertension.
"The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019, a long-term, time-bound national strategy for the prevention, control, and abatement of air pollution," the Center's response continued, addressing steps to improve the quality of the air in these heavily polluted cities.
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According to the reports from The Indian Express, by 2024, 131 cities are expected to have achieved the NCAP's targets of a 20–30 per cent decrease in PM concentrations compared to the base year of 2017. The goal has since been changed to satisfy the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM concentrations by 2025–2026 or achieve a reduction of up to 40 per cent.
"Cities receive funding to help them carry out their action plans for bettering the quality of the air." Under NCAP, all 131 cities and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have created City Action Plans. For the years FY 2019–20 to FY 2025–26, 131 cities have been allocated a total of Rs 19,614 crore. Of these, 82 cities are paid by MoEF&CC under the Control of Pollution Scheme, while 49 Million Plus Cities/Urban Agglomerations are funded under the XVth Finance Commission air quality award.
131 cities have received Rs 11,211 crore so far to carry out their City Action Plans. Furthermore, according to Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh, "95 cities out of 131 have demonstrated improvement in air quality in terms of annual PM 10 concentrations in FY 2023-24 compared to the baseline of FY 2017-18."
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- With inputs from agencies
