NEW DELHI, July 21: Noida, one of India’s most polluted cities, has used only around 6 per cent of the Rs 21.95 crore it received under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) since 2019, according to government data.
Data released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) showed that 19 out of the 131 cities covered under the NCAP have utilised less than 50 per cent of the funds allocated, and four have used below 25 per cent of the funds received as of May 3.
Launched in 2019, the NCAP is India’s first national effort to set clean air targets, aiming for a 20-30 per cent reduction in PM10 pollution by 2024, with 2017 as the base year. The revised target aims for a 40 per cent reduction by 2026, using 2019-20 as the base year.
A total of 46 cities and urban agglomerations spent less than 75 percent of the money received under the programme, either directly from the environment ministry or through the 15th Finance Commission.
Noida in Uttar Pradesh has utilised only Rs 1.43 crore of the Rs 21.95 crore allocated to it for to combatting air pollution.
Bengaluru spent only Rs 68.37 crore of the Rs 535.1 crore received, Nagpur used Rs 17.71 crore of Rs 132.6 crore, and Visakhapatnam spent Rs 26.17 crore of the Rs 129.25 crore it got.
Other cities with low fund utilisation include Pune (26.44 per cent), Gulbarga (27.2 per cent), Vasai-Virar (28.01 per cent), Nashik (28.21 per cent), Kolhapur (28.37 per cent), Vijayawada (29.16 per cent), Angul (29.95 per cent), Jamshedpur (35.78 per cent), Delhi (37.33 per cent), Anantapur (38.39 per cent), Faridabad (38.89 per cent), Durg Bhilainagar (42.31 per cent), Varanasi (46.25 per cent), Ranchi (48.73 per cent), and Jalandhar (48.81 per cent).
A report released by the independent think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Friday said only Rs 6,806 crore (64 per cent) of the total Rs 10,566 crore allocated to the 131 cities since the programme’s inception has been utilised as of May 3.
Nearly two-thirds of the funds allocated to 131 cities under the NCAP have been used for dust management, while only 0.61 per cent of the total funds have been used to tackle industrial pollution, 12.63 per cent for vehicular pollution, and 14.51 per cent for biomass burning.
Among the cities covered by the programme, 82 receive direct funding from the MoEFCC, while 42 cities and seven urban agglomerations with population over a million receive funding from the 15th Finance Commission.
The 82 cities utilised Rs 831.42 crore of the total Rs 1,616.47 crore allocated, while the 49 cities receiving funding under the 15th Finance Commission spent Rs 5,974.73 crore of the total Rs 8,951 crore allocated. (PTI)
