Congress Calls NCAP 'Notional' as New Study Spurs Demand for Clean-Air Overhaul

Overview

• Citing CREA analysis, Congress says 1,787 of 4,041 statutory towns recorded chronic PM2.5 exceedances over 2019–2024, excluding 2020.
• The party argues NCAP covers only 130 cities, leaving roughly 96 percent of chronically polluted towns outside its scope.
• Implementation gaps flagged include 28 NCAP cities lacking continuous monitoring and 100 of 102 monitored cities reporting PM10 at 80 percent or higher.
• Congress proposes lifting total funding from about Rs 10,500 crore for 131 cities to a Rs 25,000 crore programme covering the 1,000 most polluted towns.
• Demands include revising the Air Act and NAAQS with PM2.5 as the primary metric, enforcing power-plant norms with FGD installation by end-2026, and restoring NGT independence while accusing the government of downplaying health impacts in Parliament.