The Union Environment Ministry has released Rs 11 crore to Delhi under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to cater to critical gaps in air pollution management, officials said Friday. This is the first time Delhi has got funds under NCAP, a national-level strategy for a 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.
"Delhi has been allocated Rs 18.74 crore under NCAP. This is the first time it received funds under the programme since it started in 2019. The first installment of Rs 11 crore was released a few days ago," an official said. "The rest of the amount will be released after Delhi submits utilization certificates for up to 60 percent of the first installment," he said. The NCAP fund will be utilised to meet critical gaps — wherever there is any inadequacy of funds from other sources. The rest of the funding is to be mobilised through convergence of schemes. Funds for bigger projects such as management of construction and demolition waste are allocated under the Swachh Bharat Urban programme and other schemes of the central government. NCAP covers 132 non-attainment cities which do not meet the prescribed national ambient air quality standards.
These cities have been identified based on the ambient air quality data obtained during the 2011-2015 period under the National Air Monitoring Programme. The acceptable annual standard for PM 10 and PM2.5 is 60 micrograms per cubic metre and 40 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.
In 2017, Delhi's annual PM10 average stood at 240 micrograms per cubic metre. The targeted PM 10 concentration by 2024 is 168 micrograms per cubic metre. Officials in the Union Environment Ministry said the national capital did not get any funds under NCAP for two years because it had other resources available — a green cess levied on diesel vehicles above 2,000 cc, which is deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and a pollution tax on commercial vehicles entering Delhi. This time, fund availability under NCAP has improved.
"Fifty cities are already getting a good amount (Rs 4,400 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 2,217 crore in 2021-22) for pollution management from the Finance Commission. Therefore, the availability of funds for the remaining 82 cities under NCAP has improved. So, we decided to give some funds to Delhi, too," an official had said earlier.
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