Decision makers in Patna, Dhanbad and Bhopal appear to believe that desilting drains or construction of football grounds, roads, fountains, drains and purchase of de-sludging machines are some innovative solutions for tackling deteriorating air quality. The National Green Tribunal, however, is not convinced.
The green tribunal has been left aghast by the response of some city officials on their fight against bad air. Upset over the replies, NGT stopped short of calling out officials for attempts to mislead it and derail the Central government’s efforts to improve air quality in some of the most choked cities.
Interestingly, officials of these three cities are not the only ones whose responses on checking air pollution have left the NGT unhappy. The bench led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava also had to contend with responses from other cities on air quality improvement measures that included steps like “purchase of de-sludging machines” and “renovation of old parks”.
Faridabad babus, for instance, tried to showcase “regular collection, segregation and scientific disposal of waste” as one of the measures to improve air quality. Bhopal officials took pride in “construction of 110 water fountains for controlling road dust”.
The NGT was hearing the issue of air quality deterioration in different cities (53) across India as reflected in the Air Quality Index (AQI) maintained by the Central Pollution Control Board. A total of 131 cities got funds under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) or grants sanctioned by the 15th Finance Commission for air quality improvement last year. Of these, 42 are “million-plus cities” that receive 15th Finance Commission grants for “augmenting infrastructure and other essential measures at city level to improve air quality”.
After poring over the replies filed by officials of some states, the NGT bench advised them to show some more seriousness. “In respect of the manner of utilisation of funds received, we find that only few states have used it for setting up of AQI Monitoring Stations. In some states, we have found that the funds have been utilised under the heads which may not have direct connection with the improvement of air quality. In fact, funds are required to be utilised as per the approved action plan for non-attainment cities under the NCAP and action plans approved for cities not falling as non-attainment cities,” the tribunal noted.
The NGT Bench also noted that “a major contributor to air pollution is the road dust and accordingly efforts should be made towards undertaking road dust mitigating activities. However, progressive reduction of PM10 and PM2.5 linking with the source identified, is not disclosed”.
“Out of 53 cities identified in the present matter, 19 cities fall in non-attainment cities and Rs 1644.4025 crore has been allocated for air quality improvement. MoEF&CC needs to ensure that assets created by expanding such amounts are properly utilised,” said the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A. Senthil Vel.
“All the cities (53) should disclose contribution by each polluting source in terms of identified pollutant (PM10/PM2.50) as per source apportionment and progressive reduction on account of measures taken,” said the NGT bench.
The tribunal also made strong observations about the underutilisation of funds and the need for undertaking studies to identify factors contributing to air pollution.
“States are required to utilise the fund promptly and for the purpose it has been allocated without leaving any gap in utilisation. The cities under consideration where apportionment study has not been done are required to complete the said apportionment study in respect of the factors contributing in pollution and focus on those factors which have a larger share in contribution. Further efforts are required to ensure that the air quality improves in the cities under consideration,” the tribunal said.
The Principal Bench of the NGT also asked cities to adopt a proactive approach and implement action plans in advance after assessing the seasonal trends. “We also find that dust pollution and its behaviour is concerned with meteorological conditions and each city is required to have seasonal trends and accordingly, action plans be implemented in advance,” it said.
NCAP focuses on preparation and implementation of national level action plans, state level action plans and city level action plans of the targeted 131 cites. The action plan includes various activities such as construction and demolition waste management facilities, non-motorised transport infrastructure, green buffers, laying of pavements, mechanical street sweepers, composting units etc. The programme envisages to achieve a reduction up to 40% or achievement of National Ambient Air Quality Standards in Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) concentrations by 2025-26.
In November 2023, the NGT flagged the deteriorating air quality of 53 towns and cities and asked the respective states to take “remedial measures”. The NGT told states to provide details of how they used the funds they got under the NCAP and 15th Finance Commission.
A month later, the tribunal noted that the states which had filed the reports until then had not fully used the funds and that “only few states have used it for setting up AQI monitoring stations”.
So far, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, and Delhi have submitted their reports to the NGT. According to the environment ministry, air quality performance has been assessed for this year. About 90 cities have shown the improvement in air quality and 15 cities met National Ambient Air Quality Standards in terms of PM10 concentrations in FY 2022-23. Further, 26 cities have achieved a reduction of more than 30% and 37 cities have shown reductions in the range of 10-30% as compared to baseline of 2017-18.