Nagpur: The Second Capital of Maharashtra, Nagpur, was successful in improving its ‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2024’ ranking this year by reducing its bad air quality as compared to previous year. Nagpur scored rank 15 this year among 47 cities with a population of over 10 lakh. Nagpur scored 169.6 marks this year to gain the rank 15.
Whereas, in 2023, the city scored 166 marks and bagged 18th rank out of 47 cities in the country out of 200 points in the survey by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav released the ‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan’ ranking during the 4th meeting of Apex Committee of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on the occasion of Swachh Vayu Diwas (International Day of Clean Air for blue skies) in Jaipur recently.
Mumbai, the recipient of the highest grant from the Centre for improving air quality, slipped to 28th this year from tenth last year in the annual Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan report.
The report is classified into three categories based on the total population living in the cities. In the first category, 47 cities with a population above 10 lakh are ranked. In the second category, 43 cities with a population between 3 and 10 lakh are ranked, and in the third category, 40 cities with a population of less than 3 lakh are ranked.
Mumbai falls under the first category. The top three cities ranked in this category are Surat, Jabalpur, and Agra. Among other Maharashtra cities, Thane secured the 16th position in this category, followed by Nagpur at 15, Nashik at 23, and Pune at 27. Last year, Thane was in the third position, Nagpur was in the 20th, Nashik was in the 23rd, and Pune was ranked at 31.
The survey was conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the NCAP. ‘Swachh Vayu Survekshan’ ranks cities on the basis of implementation of activities approved under the city action plan and air quality in 131 NCAP cities, which are divided into three categories on the basis of their population.
Under NCAP, a performance-based grant of Rs 19,612 crore has been allocated to 131 cities for implementation of city action plans from 2019-20 to 2025-26. So far Rs 11,211 crore was provided to these cities to achieve the targets of 40% reduction or achieving National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in PM10 levels by 2025-26. Air quality improvement activities undertaken in 131 cities in sectors of road dust, vehicular pollution, waste management, greening of urban spaces and industrial pollution.
In the meeting, it was informed that under NCAP, 95 cities have improved their air quality and 18 cities are meeting National Ambient Air Quality Standards in PM10 levels in 2023-24. As per the data provided by MoEF&CC, Nagpur city has achieved 10% reduction in PM10 levels in 2023- 24 along with 23 other cities. The ranking has been given to cities for their significant improvements in air quality, achieved through the various best practices aimed at mitigating air pollution.
Some of the key activities they implemented includes: End to end paving on roads; Promoting mechanical sweeping; Bioremediation of legacy waste; C&D and solid waste management; Nagar vatika from reclaimed land of dumpsite; Green belt development; Intelligent traffic management system; and Miyawaki afforestation. Amravati, this year bagged the 2nd rank in ‘Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan’ ranking with 195 marks among 41 cities listed with a population from 3 to 10 lakh. In 2023, Amravati was ranked 1 in the same category. This year, Firozabad toppled Amravati with full marks. In 2021, Amravati was in 3rd place whereas Firozabad was 2nd and Moradabad was Rank 1.
