Lok Sabha Question No. 1040 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-10
Subject: Air Pollution in Maharashtra
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ms. Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1040

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.02.2025

## Air Pollution in Maharashtra

## 1040. MS. PRANITI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE :

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

- (a) whether the  Central  Government  has  implemented  specific  measures  to  address  the rising air pollution in Maharashtra ;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  comprehensive  data  on  the  long-term  health  impacts  of  air  pollution  on vulnerable populations has been compiled;
- (d) ) if so, the details of the findings, and if not, the reasons for the lack of such data; and?
- (e) the details of proposed plans, if any, to undertake such studies to better understand and address health impacts?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

## (a) to (e)

The  Government  has  launched  the  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP)  in  2019  as  a nationwide initiative aimed at reducing air pollution levels across the country. Under NCAP, non-attainment  cities  have  been  identified  based  on  ambient  air  quality  levels  exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards, consecutively for five years. City Specific Clean Air Action  Plans  have  been  prepared  and  are  being  implemented  in  130  non-attainments  and million plus cities including 19 cities of Maharashtra.

The city clean air action plans target city specific air polluting sources like soil & road dust, vehicles, domestic fuel, MSW burning, construction material and industries with short-term priority action as well as those to be implemented in a medium to longer time frame along with the responsible agencies such as Urban Local Bodies, Traffic department and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) / Pollution Control Committees (PCC).

Funds  are  provided  under  NCAP  as  performance-based-supplemental  grant  for  funding  of activities of city action plan for which adequate funding is not available from other sources and schemes.  Urban  Local  Bodies  (ULBs)  are  advised  to  utilize  the  funds  on  activities  as  per approved city action plan. In addition, funding for implementation of City Action Plans (CAPs) is mobilized through the convergence of resources from various Central Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation  (AMRUT),  Smart  City  Mission  (SCM),  Sustainable  Alternative  Towards Affordable  Transportation  (SATAT),  Faster  Adoption  and  Manufacturing  of  Hybrid  and

Electric  Vehicles  (FAME-II),  and  Nagar  Van  Yojana  (NVY),  as  well  as  resources  from State/UT  Governments  and agencies like  Municipal  Corporations  and  Urban  Development authorities.

Out of total 19 non-attainment cites in Maharashtra under NCAP, 09 cities (Akola, Amravati, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Sangli, Solapur) are funded by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  under  NCAP  and  10  cities (Aurangabad  U.A.,  Greater  Mumbai  U.A.,  Badlapur,  Navi  Mumbai,  Thane,  Ulhas  Nagar, Nagpur U.A., Nashik U.A., Pune U.A. &Vasai-Virar City) are funded under Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV-FC) Grant.

Under NCAP and 15 th  Financial Commission (XVFC) grants, total of Rs.1754.4 Crore have been released to 19 cities of Maharashtra from FY 2019-20 till 30.01.2025 for implementing activities to control air pollution and out of which Rs. 1271.66 Crore have been utilized.  Status of fund released and utilized to above-mentioned 19 cities under NCAP fund & XV-FC grant FY 2019-20 to FY 24-25 (till 30.01.2025) is given at Annexure-I .

Further, there is no conclusive data available to establish a direct correlation on the long-term health impacts due to air pollution on vulnerable populations. Air pollution is one of the many factors affecting respiratory ailments and associated diseases. Health is affected by cumulative impact  of  a  number  of  factors  apart  from  the  environment,  which  include  food  habits, occupational  habits,  socio-economic  status,  medical  history,  immunity,  heredity  etc.  of  the individuals.

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Annexure-I Fund released and utilized under NCAP and XVFC-Grants during FY 19-20 to FY 2425 (till 30.01.2025) as per PRANA portal (Amount Rupees in Crore)

| S. No.   | City                   | Fund Release   |   Fund Utilized |
|----------|------------------------|----------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Aurangabad UA          | 68.3           |           54.45 |
| 2        | Greater Mumbai (GM) UA | 938.59         |          574.65 |
| 3        | BadlapurGMUA           | 2              |            8.91 |
| 4        | ThaneGMUA              | -              |           78.11 |
| 5        | UlhasnagarGM UA        | 2.1            |           22.53 |
| 6        | Navi MumbaiGMUA        | 9.45           |           52.91 |
| 7        | Nagpur UA              | 142.05         |           56.25 |
| 8        | Nashik UA              | 91.55          |           50.42 |
| 9        | Pune UA                | 271.3          |          173.54 |
| 10       | Akola                  | 9.61           |            9.49 |
| 11       | Amravati               | 34.64          |           32.83 |
| 12       | Chandrapur             | 6.99           |            6.75 |
| 13       | Jalgaon                | 5.64           |            3.2  |
| 14       | Jalna                  | 6.35           |            5.52 |
| 15       | Kolhapur               | 24.11          |           15.35 |
| 16       | Latur                  | 17.37          |            7.9  |
| 17       | Sangli                 | 11.65          |            9.33 |
| 18       | Solapur                | 40.35          |           38.11 |
| 19       | Vasai Virar UA         | 72.35          |           71.41 |
|          | Total                  | 1754.40        |         1271.66 |

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