Parliament Question: Impact of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on PM2.5 Levels
NCAP city-level implementation, NAAQS/AQI frameworks, and reported PM2.5 outcomes
- NAAQS were notified for 12 air pollutants, including PM10 and PM2.5, with the stated aim of safeguarding public health and environmental quality.
- NCAP was launched in 2019 in 130 cities and is monitored through central, state and district-level committees while using city, state and national clean air action plans.
- CAQM was established under the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 and is empowered to issue directions to agencies in the National Capital Region for air-quality protection and improvement.
- The reply reports reductions and NAAQS compliance counts for PM10 and PM2.5 in NCAP cities during FY 2025–26 compared with 2017–18, and provides city-specific PM2.5 values for Pune, Hyderabad, Surat, Delhi and Mumbai for 2025–26.
What happened: Rajya Sabha reply on NCAP’s impact and air-quality frameworks
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change provided a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on the impact of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on particulate pollution levels. The reply also restated the Government’s air-quality framework: National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for key pollutants, Air Quality Index (AQI) for public-facing information, and mission-mode city action planning monitored through central, state and district-level committees.
Air pollution sources and the measurement premise
Use NCAP to connect standards (NAAQS), information systems (AQI), implementation architecture (Centre–State–ULB), and accountability mechanisms (committee monitoring; CAQM for Delhi-NCR). Analyse reported PM10 and PM2.5 outcomes as implementation signals, while noting that inter-country air-quality comparisons are not directly comparable due to meteorological and geographic differences.
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