Gurgaon Tops Pollution Charts: Urgent Call for Action

A report by CREA reveals Gurgaon as India's most polluted city in March, with Haryana dominating the list of polluted cities. Despite efforts under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), many cities remain far from achieving air quality targets. Urgent, science-based interventions are necessary to address growing pollution levels.

In March, Gurgaon was identified as India's most polluted city, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Haryana alone accounted for four of the ten most polluted cities in the country, highlighting an urgent need for action against rising pollution levels.

The report indicated that only a few cities have met the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) targets after seven years, with many others still showing deterioration. Striking improvements were noted in some areas while others, like Visakhapatnam, saw increased PM10 levels by 73%.

Manoj Kumar from CREA emphasized the importance of localized interventions grounded in scientific data and called for the revision of NCAP, strict emission standards, and directed funding to tackle major pollution sources as new phases of the programme commence.