Despite severe pollution, Delhi used only a third of funds allocated under National Clean Air Programme

Time of India

4 hours ago

Delhi, grappling with severe pollution, has utilised only a fraction of the funds allocated under the National Clean Air Programme. Launched in 2019, the program aims to reduce PM10 pollution significantly by 2026. However, numerous cities, including Noida, Faridabad, and Visakhapatnam, have also shown low fund utilisation, raising concerns about the program's effectiveness.
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Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in India, has used less than one-third of the funds it received under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), according to government records.Launched in 2019, the NCAP is India's first national plan to set clean air targets. It aims to reduce PM10 pollution by 40 per cent in 130 highly polluted cities by 2026, using 2019-20 as the base year.Environment ministry data showed that Delhi spent just Rs 13.94 crore, 32.65 per cent of the Rs 42.69 crore released to it under the NCAP.A total of 14 cities and urban agglomerations have spent less than 50 per cent of the funds they received under the programme, either directly from the environment ministry or through the 15th Finance Commission.Noida in Uttar Pradesh, another major pollution hotspot in the National Capital Region, has spent only Rs 3.44 crore of the Rs 30.89 crore given to it for air pollution control. Faridabad in Haryana spent Rs 28.60 crore of the Rs 107.14 crore it received.Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh used Rs 39.42 crore out of the Rs 129.25 crore allocated to it. Jalandhar in Punjab spent Rs 17.65 crore of the Rs 45.44 crore given to it, while Gulbarga in Karnataka used Rs 8.98 crore of the Rs 23.48 crore it received.Other cities with low utilisation include Pathankot (37.1 per cent), Ujjain (37.7 per cent), Karnataka's Devanagere (43.6 per cent), Assam's Nagaon (48.5 per cent), Vijayawada (41.09 per cent), Jamshedpur (44.24 per cent) and Varanasi (48.85 per cent).Of the total Rs 12,636 crore allocated to 130 cities under the NCAP since its launch, only Rs 8,981 crore, around 71 per cent, has been spent as of May 27.Of the cities covered under the NCAP, 82 receive direct funding from the Union environment ministry, while 48 cities and urban agglomerations with populations over one million receive funds through the 15th Finance Commission.The 82 cities spent Rs 1,268 crore, 78.5 per cent of the Rs 1,615.47 crore allocated to them. The 48 cities receiving money under the 15th Finance Commission used Rs 7,713 crore, 70 per cent of the Rs 11,020 crore allocated.