Lok Sabha Question No. 2321 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-15
Subject: Integration of NEERI's Scientific Models to Control Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Brijmohan Agrawal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2321 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.12.2025

## Integration of NEERI's Scientific Models to Control Pollution

## 2321.  SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the mechanism adopted by the Government to integrate National Environmental Engineering Research  Institute (NEERI) scientific models into regulatory frameworks  to  move  from  a  'one-size-fits-all'  policy  to  location-specific,  science-driven interventions, particularly in critically polluted areas of our country;
- (b) the details of Non-Attainment City (NAC) along with the specific criteria and air quality standards that lead to a city being officially designated as a NAC, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the  manner  by  which  Government  is  ensuring  that  the  City  Action  Plans  (CAPs)  are scientifically aligned with the findings of their specific Source Appointment (SA) studies, rather than implementing generic measures;
- (d) the guidelines/measures adopted by the Government for visible interventions like road dust management in the country, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) whether the specific measures are there to protect the most vulnerable populations who are often disproportionately exposed to high pollution levels in these NACs and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a)  to  (e): CSIR-  National  Environmental  Engineering  Research  Institute  (NEERI)  has  been assisting  Central  Pollution  Control  Board,  State  Pollution  Control  Boards  (SPCBs),  Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) by carrying out scientific studies, including  Source Apportionment  (SA),  Emission  Inventory  (EI), and Carrying Capacity assessments. CSIR-NEERI reported that it has completed Source Apportionment studies for 25 cities  (18  in  Maharashtra,  5  in  West  Bengal,  and  2  in  Andhra  Pradesh)  for  implementation of NCAP.

CPCB has identified 122 non-attainment cities based on the exceedance of the National Ambient Air  Quality  Standards  for  PM10  levels  consecutively  for  five  years  from  2014  to  2018. Government of India launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to improve air quality in 130 cities across the country which include 122 non-attainment cities and 08 other Million-plus population cities (not categorised as non-attainment cities) under NCAP. State/UT-wise details of the non-attainment cities including other Million-plus population cities covered under NCAP are enclosed at Annexure I.

CPCB has issued 'Conceptual Guidelines and Common Methodology for Air Quality Monitoring, Emission Inventory (EI) & Source Apportionment (SA) Studies for Indian Cities.' SPCBs/PCCs take up Source Apportionment Studies through various academic/ research institutes for respective cities under NCAP in their jurisdiction in line with the CPCB guidelines. All cities under NCAP have prepared City Action Plans (CAP).  These plans focus on sectoral interventions such as road dust control, solid waste management, vehicular emissions, construction and demolition activities and  industrial pollution. District level  implementation  Committees  constituted  under  the Chairmanship of District  Collector,  approve the  City  level  action  plan  prepared  by  concerned ULBs and prioritise the activities.

MoEFCC has disseminated the Guidance Document on 'Designing, Constructing and Maintaining Urban Roads and Greening of Traffic Corridors for Dust Control' to all cities under NCAP, with request  to  use  the  same  for  construction  and  maintenance  of  dust  free  roads.  It  integrates engineering  standards  prescribed  by  the  Indian  Roads  Congress  (IRC)  with  environmental safeguards such as dust control measures, vegetation, and drainage systems, to ensure sustainable urban infrastructure and measurable improvement in air quality.

A  centralised  air  quality  portal  and  mobile  app-SAMEER  is  functional  for  tracking  and dissemination of near real time air quality data and hourly Air Quality Index to the public. CPCB issues a daily bulletin at 04:00 PM comprising AQI of various cities in the country. SAMEER app also serves as a grievance redressal mechanism which allows the citizens to report pollution related complaints for quick resolution by the concerned agencies. Further, air quality monitoring data is also made available by respective SPCBs/PCCs on their websites.

The focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities showing reduction  in  PM10  concentration  in  2024-25  with  respect  to  2017-18,  64  cities  have  shown reduction in PM10 levels by more than 20% with respect to base year 2017-18 and 25 of these cities have achieved a reduction of more than 40%. A total of 22 Cities have met NAAQS and have PM10 Concentrations less than 60 µg/m 3 .

***

## List of non-attainment cities (NACs) and other Million Plus cities under NCAP

| State                 | S. No.                | City                  |
|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
| Non-attainment cities | Non-attainment cities | Non-attainment cities |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 1.                    | Guntur                |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 2.                    | Kurnool               |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 3.                    | Nellore               |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 4.                    | Vijayawada            |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 5.                    | Vishakhapatnam        |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 6.                    | Anantapur             |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 7.                    | Chittoor              |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 8.                    | Eluru                 |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 9.                    | Kadapa                |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 10.                   | Ongole                |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 11.                   | Rajahmundry           |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 12.                   | Srikakulam            |
| Andhra Pradesh (13)   | 13.                   | Vizianagaram          |
| Assam (05)            | 14.                   | Guwahati              |
| Assam (05)            | 15.                   | Nagaon                |
| Assam (05)            | 16.                   | Nalbari               |
| Assam (05)            | 17.                   | Sivasagar             |
| Assam (05)            | 18.                   | Silchar               |
| Bihar (03)            | 19.                   | Patna                 |
| Bihar (03)            | 20.                   | Gaya                  |
| Bihar (03)            | 21.                   | Muzaffarpur           |
| Chandigarh (01)       | 22.                   | Chandigarh            |
| Chhattisgarh (03)     | 23.                   | Bhilai                |
| Chhattisgarh (03)     | 24.                   | Korba                 |
| Chhattisgarh (03)     | 25.                   | Raipur                |
| Delhi (01)            | 26.                   | Delhi                 |
| Gujarat (03)          | 27.                   | Surat                 |
| Gujarat (03)          | 28.                   | Ahmedabad             |
| Gujarat (03)          | 29.                   | Vadodara              |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 30.                   | Baddi                 |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 31.                   | Damtal                |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 32.                   | Kala Amb              |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 33.                   | Nalagarh              |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 34.                   | Paonta Sahib          |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 35.                   | Parwanoo              |
| Himachal Pradesh (7)  | 36.                   | Sunder Nagar          |
| Jammu &Kashmir (2)    | 37.                   | Jammu                 |

|                     |   38. | Srinagar      |
|---------------------|-------|---------------|
| Jharkhand (01)      |    39 | Dhanbad       |
| Karnataka (04)      |    40 | Bangalore     |
| Karnataka (04)      |    41 | Davanagere    |
| Karnataka (04)      |    42 | Gulbarga      |
| Karnataka (04)      |    43 | Hubli-Dharwad |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |    44 | Bhopal        |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |    45 | Dewas         |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |    46 | Indore        |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |    47 | Sagar         |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |    48 | Ujjain        |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |    49 | Gwalior       |
| Maharashtra (18)    |    50 | Akola         |
|                     |    51 | Amravati      |
|                     |    52 | Aurangabad    |
|                     |    53 | Badlapur      |
|                     |    54 | Chandrapur    |
|                     |    55 | Jalgaon       |
|                     |    56 | Jalna         |
|                     |    57 | Kolhapur      |
|                     |    58 | Latur         |
|                     |    59 | Mumbai        |
|                     |    60 | Nagpur        |
|                     |    61 | Nashik        |
|                     |    62 | Navi Mumbai   |
|                     |    63 | Pune          |
|                     |    64 | Sangli        |
|                     |    65 | Solapur       |
| Meghalaya (01)      |    68 | Byrnihat      |
| Nagaland (02)       |    69 | Dimapur       |
| Nagaland (02)       |    70 | Kohima        |
| Orissa (07)         |    71 | Angul         |
| Orissa (07)         |    72 | Balasore      |
| Orissa (07)         |    73 | Bhubaneswar   |
| Orissa (07)         |    74 | Cuttack       |

|                    |   75. | Rourkela            |
|--------------------|-------|---------------------|
|                    |    76 | Talcher             |
|                    |    77 | Kalinga Nagar       |
| Punjab (09)        |    78 | Dera Bassi          |
|                    |    79 | Gobindgarh          |
|                    |    80 | Jalandhar           |
|                    |    81 | Khanna              |
|                    |    82 | Ludhiana            |
|                    |    83 | Naya Nangal         |
|                    |    84 | Pathankot/Dera Baba |
|                    |    85 | Patiala             |
|                    |    86 | Amritsar            |
| Rajasthan (05)     |    87 | Alwar               |
|                    |    88 | Jaipur              |
|                    |    89 | Jodhpur             |
|                    |    90 | Kota                |
|                    |    91 | Udaipur             |
| Tamilnadu (03)     |    92 | Thoothukudi         |
|                    |    93 | Trichy              |
|                    |    94 | Madurai             |
| Telangana (04)     |    95 | Hyderabad           |
|                    |    96 | Nalgonda            |
|                    |    97 | Sangareddy          |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |    98 | Agra                |
|                    |    99 | Allahabad           |
|                    |   100 | Anpara              |
|                    |   101 | Bareilly            |
|                    |   102 | Firozabad           |
|                    |   103 | Gajraula            |
|                    |   104 | Ghaziabad           |
|                    |   105 | Jhansi              |
|                    |   106 | Kanpur              |
|                    |   107 | Khurja              |
|                    |   108 | Lucknow             |
|                    |   109 | Moradabad           |
|                    |   110 | Noida               |
|                    |   111 | Raebareli           |

|                                                                 | 112.                                                            | Varanasi                                                        |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                 | 113.                                                            | Gorakhpur                                                       |
| Uttarakhand (03)                                                | 114.                                                            | Kashipur                                                        |
| Uttarakhand (03)                                                | 115.                                                            | Rishikesh                                                       |
| Uttarakhand (03)                                                | 116.                                                            | Dehradun                                                        |
| West Bengal (07)                                                | 117.                                                            | Kolkata                                                         |
| West Bengal (07)                                                | 118.                                                            | Asansol                                                         |
| West Bengal (07)                                                | 119.                                                            | Barrackpore                                                     |
| West Bengal (07)                                                | 120.                                                            | Durgapur                                                        |
| West Bengal (07)                                                | 121.                                                            | Haldia                                                          |
| West Bengal (07)                                                | 122.                                                            | Howrah                                                          |
| Million plus cities which are not categorised as non-attainment | Million plus cities which are not categorised as non-attainment | Million plus cities which are not categorised as non-attainment |
| Gujarat (1)                                                     | 123.                                                            | Rajkot                                                          |
| Haryana (1)                                                     | 124.                                                            | Faridabad                                                       |
| Jharkhand (2)                                                   | 125.                                                            | Jamshedpur                                                      |
| Jharkhand (2)                                                   | 126.                                                            | Ranchi                                                          |
| Madhya Pradesh (1)                                              | 127.                                                            | Jabalpur                                                        |
| Uttar Pradesh (1)                                               | 128.                                                            | Meerut                                                          |
| Maharashtra (1)                                                 | 129.                                                            | Vasai-Virar                                                     |
| Tamilnadu (1)                                                   | 130.                                                            | Chennai                                                         |

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