New Delhi: Ninety-five of the 132 non-attainment cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which targets 20 to 30 percent reduction in particulate matter concentration by 2024, have witnessed an overall improvement in PM10 levels in the last four years, the government has said.
The 132 non-attainment cities covered under NCAP did not meet the prescribed national ambient air quality standards for five consecutive years (2011-2015).
The acceptable annual standard for PM 10 and PM2.5 is 60 micrograms per cubic metre and 40 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.
Cities that showed overall improvement in PM 10 concentration since 2017 include Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Patna, Nagpur, Pune, Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Firozabad, Moradabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Raipur among others.
In Delhi, the PM10 concentration has reduced from 241 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017 to 196 micrograms per cubic metre in 2021, according to the data presented by Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the Lok Sabha.