Delhi fails to meet NCAP target: CREA study

New Delhi

Delhi has failed to meet its initial National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) target of reducing PM10 (particulate matter having a diameter of 10 microns or less) by 20-30% by 2024 from the baseline of 2017, according to an analysis released on Thursday.

The study, undertaken by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), analysed the past six years of NCAP—set for 131 non-attainment cities to bring down pollution levels across the country—and found Delhi was only able to bring down PM10 levels by around 12%.

However, neighbouring NCR cities of Ghaziabad and Faridabad recorded much steeper improvements, meeting the initial target set by the Centre. Ghaziabad recorded a reduction in PM10 concentration by 39% and Faridabad by around 25%, data showed.

Delhi’s PM10 concentration dipped from 241 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) in 2017, the baseline year set by the Centre, to 211µg/m in 2024. Ghaziabad, meanwhile, recorded a dip from 285µg/m3 in 2017 to 174µg/m3 in 2024. Both Faridabad and Noida’s annual PM10 concentrations were 229µg/m3 each in 2017 and they dipped by 25% and 19%, respectively.

This initial deadline of 2024 was later extended to 2026, but the target was also revised, to bring down concentration by 40%.

Gurugram and Greater Noida were not part of the 131 non-attainment cities list, identified by 2019 using the annual concentration from 2011-15. Greater Noida, with an annual PM10 concentration of 226µg/m3, is presently the most polluted city across NCR. Gurugram had a PM10 concentration of 186µg/m3 in 2024, making it the sixth most polluted city across the country.

Sunil Dahiya, analyst and founder at think-tank Envirocatalysts said Delhi’s stagnant PM2.5 level since 2017 and minimal progress in reducing PM10 highlights the lack of effective action to cut emissions at source.

“A radical shift to a planned, systematic approach with aggressive targets and timelines across sectors and regions is essential to tackle the city’s hazardous air pollution,” he said, highlighting that there was just a 3% reduction of both PM2.5 and PM10 since 2019.

Manoj Kumar, an analyst at CREA, part of the study, said there was not enough transparency on action taken by different states and cities. “It is not clear what Ghaziabad and Faridabad have been able to do to lead to such a sharp improvement. Progress reports, which were early in the public domain, are no longer available on the Centre’s PRANA portal. One will have to check on the ground what measures have been incorporated,” Kumar said, adding that at this rate, it was unlikely Delhi will be able to meet the 2026 target.