Congress on Sunday accused the government of trying to downplay the health impact of air pollution, saying it is trying to cover up the extent of its “incompetence” and “negligence” on the issue.
Jairam Ramesh, MP, General Secretary (Communications), All India Congress Committee, pointed out the impact of air pollution on health citing a new analysis by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and called for reforms taking the first step to recognize the public health crisis related to air pollution.
It also called for giving legal backing to the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) and equipping the top air pollution agency with an enforcement mechanism and serious data monitoring capacity for every Indian city, beyond the current focus only on “non-compliant” cities.
The independence of the National Green Tribunal must be restored and anti-people amendments to the environmental law of the last 10 years must be reversed, he said.
“A new analysis by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has confirmed what was always India’s worst-kept secret: that air quality is a nationwide structural crisis for which the government’s response is grossly ineffective and inadequate,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
He said: “Twice so far in Parliament, first on 29 July 2024 and then on 9 December 2025, the government has tried to downplay the impact of air pollution on health. The government is not blind to the truth; it is just trying to cover up the extent of its incompetence and negligence.”
The Congress leader said the CREA study, using satellite data, “…found that nearly 44 per cent of Indian cities – i.e. 1,787 of 4,041 statutory cities assessed – have chronic air pollution, with annual PM2.5 levels consistently exceeding the national standard for five years (2019-2024, excluding 2020).”
The former Union Environment Minister claimed that the report also highlighted the ineffectiveness of NCAP.
“Despite the magnitude of the problem (1,787 villages), only 130 cities are covered by the National Clean Air Program (NCAP). Of these 130 cities, 28 still lack continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS). Among the 102 cities with monitoring infrastructure, 100 reported PM10 levels of 80 percent or more. In total, the NCAP currently addresses only 4 percent of cities chronically contaminated wastewater from India,” he said. said.
“The NCAP propagated as the National Clean Air Program is actually another type of NCAP: Notional Clean Air Program,” he said.
Suggesting corrective measures, Ramesh said, “We need to totally review and revamp both the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act, 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that came into force in November 2009.”
“According to the NAAQS, the allowable concentration of fine particles is 60 µg/m3 for 24 hours and 40 µg/m3 per year, compared to the guidelines of less than 15 µg/m3 for 24 hours and 5 µg/m3 per year set by the WHO,” he said.
He said the government must dramatically increase the funds available under the NCAP. “The current budget, which includes funding from NCAP and grants from the 15th Finance Commission, is approximately Rs 10,500 crore, spread across 131 cities! Our cities need at least 10 to 20 times more funding – NCAP should become a Rs 25,000 crore program and spread across the 1,000 most polluted cities in the country,” he said.
The NCAP should adopt the measurement of PM 2.5 levels as a performance criterion and refocus its focus on key sources of emissions: the burning of solid fuels, vehicle emissions and industrial emissions, it said.
Ramesh said we need to completely review and revamp both the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act, 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that came into force in November 2009.
