Except Korba, Chhattisgarh cities fail in Ntnl Clean Air Programme

 

 

 

 Except electrical city of Chhattisgarh, Korba, none of the major cities across State funded under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) of Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have reduced their particulate matter levels to targeted levels. According to the data presented by the department in Lok Sabha, air pollution is still a major problem in urban parts of State. From 2017-18 to 2024-25, capital Raipur, industrial city, Bhilai-Durg and Bilaspur have witnessed a little improvement in reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 levels. Total 130 cities, including Raipur, Bhilai-Durg, Bilaspur and Korba of Chhattisgarh are funded under the 15th Finance Commission Million Plus City Challenge Fund as an air quality performance grant and under control of pollution scheme of Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

 

But only Korba has succeeded to reduce 47 per cent in PM10 as of 2024-25. In this seven-year period, capital Raipur and Bhilai-Durg have also witnessed a drop in PM10 concentration but not up to 40 per cent and above. In this period, the annual average PM10 of Raipur, Bhilai-Durg and Bilaspur have reduced but in the range of 15 to 25 per cent. Health and pollution control experts were of the view that the progress in incremental and insufficient given the scale of urbanisation, traffic congestion and construction activities. “It is a good sign in terms of health especially for asthma and lung disorder patients.

 

Therefore, these cities are seeing a sharp rise in the cases of respiratory infection and ailments” said Dr Nishant Kumar, Chest Specialist. It may be mentioned here that, NCAP has come up with many developments for cities to get success in Clean Air Action Plan, targeting key sources such as vehicular emissions, road and soil dust, construction activity and industrial pollutants. The Municipal Corporations of these areas have failed to aware people and burn of garbage as well as dry leaves are still a major issue in the urban localities. “From switching to electric buses and vehicles, to addressing unpaved roads, enforcing construction norms and emission compliance from industries then cities will be succeeded to reduce PM10 level” pointed Dr Shiv Patel, Scientist who is expert in air pollution reduction.