8 Months On, 10 Maha Cities Yet To Submit Air Pollution Control Plan

It has been over eight months that the Centre has asked the ailing cities recording some of the notorious pollution levels to submit their air pollution control plan. However, in a response to a recent Right to Information (RTI) filed by non-governmental organisation Greenpeace India, it has been revealed that over 10 Maharashtra cities have not yet submitted their control plan. This plan had to be submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

No deadline has been set for submitting these plans, but state pollution control boards (SPCBs) were expected to finalise them by June; latest by August.

So far only 80 cities have submitted their plans of the 102 cities selected under the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). The plan aims to push for clean air.

Maharashtra leads

According to the CPCB, Maharashtra leads when it comes to cities that have not yet submitted their pollution control plan. Of the 17 cities, as many as 10 have not made the submission. On the other hand, the other seven that submitted, including Mumbai, Pune, Amravati, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Jalna and Latur have been asked to revise their action plans. The revised plans are also yet to be submitted to the state government.

According to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, the action plans will be ready and submitted to the Centre by next month. According to the Maharashtra board’s officials, the CPCB asked them to develop integrated air pollution source apportionment plan, which they are developing in collaboration with stakeholders and guidance from National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and IIT-B.

Maharashtra at a risk

According to various reports published, including Greenpeace India’s Airpocalypse and World Health Organisation’s (WHO) data, many cities across Maharashtra witness alarming levels of pollution. According to Airpocalypse, as many as 25 cities in Maharashtra are at risk and have reported toxic air. On the other hand, WHO data show Maharashtra along with Uttar Pradesh would soon become India’s most polluted states. The data further unveil that almost six Maharashtra cities would soon have four to eight times higher pollution levels when compared to global standards. In 2017 winters, the pollution levels in the state were as bad as China’s Beijing.

Other states follow

Following Maharashtra are states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka that have the highest number of cities that have not submitted their draft.