Congress Cites Satellite Data to Demand Overhaul of India’s Clean-Air Plan

Overview

• A CREA analysis using satellite data found nearly 44% of 4,041 statutory towns had annual PM2.5 above national standards for 2019–2024, excluding 2020.
• Jairam Ramesh says the NCAP covers only about 130 cities, addressing roughly 4% of chronically polluted towns identified in the study.
• Monitoring remains patchy, with 28 of the 130 NCAP cities lacking CAAQMS and 100 of the 102 monitored cities reporting PM10 at 80% or higher of allowed levels.
• Congress proposes raising NCAP funding from roughly Rs 10,500 crore to Rs 25,000 crore, expanding coverage to the 1,000 most polluted towns, and using PM2.5 as the primary performance metric with a focus on major emission sources.
• The party seeks legal backing and stronger enforcement for NCAP, immediate compliance with coal-plant norms including FGD installation by end-2026, restoration of NGT independence, and it accuses the government of downplaying health impacts with no official response reported.