Five years after the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in 2019, Delhi has failed to meet its 2024 target of bringing down the annual PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by 20-30%. Analysis by an independent climate advocacy group found that the national Capital managed to bring down the concentration of PM2.5, the ultrafine particles that can reach deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, by a mere 6%. For PM10, slightly coarser pollutants made mostly of fine dust fell only by 4%. Delhi was part of 131 cities that did not attain targets for improving air quality. Around ₹9,649.99 crore has so far been released by the Centre under NCAP to help these 131 cities meet their target, the analysis said.
For the 20 million people in Delhi, the analysis is a disheartening reminder of lived experience. Every year, come October, a familiar haze sets in, masks are taken out, schools are shut and the outside becomes toxic. The winter pollution problem is such that when the air quality index (AQI) dips below 300, there is a sense of relief that the air is now merely of poor quality. Hopes for a “good” air day (with an AQI below 100) are but a pipe dream. The improvements coming far short of the NCAP targets are emblematic of the myopic approach to air pollution, which is recognised as a crisis only when it is too late to do anything about it in the year. As the country enters an election year, it is time the Capital’s citizens press their political leaders harder on what steps they will take to combat this problem and hold the feet of those who made hollow promises to the fire. It is impossible that a country of over a billion minds cannot fix a problem as pervasive as air pollution if it puts its mind to it.
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