4 months ago
51
New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) Cities in Delhi-NCR and covered under the National Clean Air Programme have utilised less than 40 per cent of the funds allocated to curb air pollution levels, the Centre informed Parliament on Thursday.
According to data presented by Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey, the central government released Rs 428.61 crore to Delhi, Noida, Alwar, Meerut, Faridabad and Ghaziabad between 2019-20 and 2023-24. Of this, only Rs 170.58 crore (around 40 per cent) has been utilised.
Delhi received Rs 38.22 crore but utilised only Rs 10.77 crore.
Similarly, Noida utilised only Rs 0.95 crore of the Rs 26.42 crore allocated to it under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Alwar utilised a meagre Rs 0.04 crore from its allocation of Rs 15 crore.
Meerut and Ghaziabad, receiving funds under the 15th Finance Air Quality Performance Grant, utilised Rs 81.93 crore and Rs 76.89 crore from their allocations of Rs 139.19 crore and Rs 136.25 crore, respectively.
The NCAP, launched in 2019, aims for a 20-30 per cent reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 in 131 non-attainment cities.
The government has set a new target of a 40 per cent reduction in particulate matter concentration in these cities by 2026.
Non-attainment cities are those that did not meet the prescribed air quality standards for five years (2011-2015). PTI GVS SZM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
