CPCB is directed to expand the list of cities for clean air action plans

NEW DELHI: India’s clean air programme may not be limited to 102 cities. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to expand the list by including other cities and towns which do not meet the prescribed national ambient air quality standards.


Though the list at present has 102 non-attainment cities, the update may expand it to over 200 by adding more cities/towns in it if fresh air quality data is taken into consideration. The non-attainment cities are those which do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.


The CPCB had identified 102 cities using air quality data from the years 2011-15 and WHO report. But, recently an independent analysis of the year 2017 air quality data of 313 cities/towns by the Greenpeace India put the number of non-attainment cities/towns at 241. It’s 139 more than what the central pollution watchdog had identified.

“The CPCB is directed to update the number of cities,” said the tribunal’s principal bench, headed by chairman justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, in its order on Friday, while referring to cities which are not included in the list of 102 on applied parameters.

It said such cities may also be included. The Bench has, however, not set any deadline for the expansion.

The list of 102 currently consists of all major non-attainment cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Jammu, Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patna and Hyderabad among others.

The NGT order comes in a matter, which it took suo motu based on a TOI report, on air pollution in cities across the country under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

The tribunal, in its Friday order, also focussed on issue of non-compliance where six defaulting states have, so far, not submitted their respective action plan to check different sources of air pollution and eventually bring the air quality to the level of prescribed norms.

Referring to non-compliance of its October 8, 2018 order, the tribunal directed chief secretaries of six states - Assam, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Nagaland - to submit their action plans by April 30 and warned them of penalty of Rs 1 crore each in case of failure to do so.

All the states were supposed to prepare and submit their action plans by December 31 last year and get it approved by the CPCB chairman on recommendations of a central committee by January 31, 2019. But, these six have not furnished their plans with respect to all of their non-attainment cities as per the list of 102.

“If such action plans are not furnished till April 30, the states will be liable to pay environment compensation of Rs 1 crore each. The states, where action plans are found to be deficient and deficiencies are not removed till April 30, will be liable to pay Rs 25 lakh each,” said the tribunal.

Once the states submit their plans, the time-line for execution will be six months from the date of finalisation of action plan.

Such plans must include components like identification of source of air pollution and its apportionment, measures for strengthening of air quality monitoring system, steps to be taken to check different sources of pollution within specific time-lines and public awareness programmes.

So far, the CPCB has received action plans of 83 cities. While 46 of these submitted plans got the final approval, 11 others could not be approved. Action plans of 26 cities are currently being reviewed by the central committee comprising of Prashant Gargava, Member Secretary, CPCB, Mukesh Khare, Professor, IIT Delhi, and Mukesh Sharma, Professor, IIT Kanpur.