New Delhi: Congress on Sunday cited a report calling air pollution a nationwide structural crisis and said the government’s response is ineffective, seeking reform of the National Clean Air Programme.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the NCAP propagated as the National Clear Air Programme is actually another type of NCAP – “Notional Clear Air Programme”.

The former environment minister said a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has now confirmed what was always India’s “worst-kept secret that the air quality is a nation-wide, structural crisis for which the government response is exceedingly ineffective and inadequate”.

Using satellite data, the study found that nearly 44 per cent of Indian cities that is 1,787 out of 4,041 statutory towns assessed have chronic air pollution, with annual PM2.5 levels consistently exceeding the national standard over five years (2019-2024, excluding 2020), Ramesh said in a statement.

Pointing out that the report also highlighted the ineffectiveness of the NCAP, the Congress leader said that despite the scale of the problem (1,787 towns), only 130 cities are covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Of these 130 cities, 28 still lack continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), he claimed.

Among the 102 cities with monitoring infrastructure, 100 reported PM10 levels of 80 per cent or higher, Ramesh said, adding that in totality, NCAP currently addresses only 4 per cent of India’s chronically polluted cities

NCAP, propagated as the National Clear Air Programme, is actually another type of NCAP–Notional Clear Air Programme, he said and asserted that it now needs a thorough overhaul and reform.

“The first step must be to acknowledge the public health crisis linked to air pollution across wide swathes of India. Consequently, given this crisis, we must revisit and totally revamp both the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act of 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) put into effect in November 2009,” Ramesh said.

As per the NAAQS the permissible concentration of fine particulate matter is 60 ug/m3 for a 24-hour period, and 40 ug/m3 annually versus the guidelines of less than 15 ug/m3 for a 24-hour period and 5 ug/m3 annually set by the WHO, he pointed out.

Ramesh urged the government to drastically increase the funds made available under the NCAP.

“The current budget, inclusive of NCAP funding and the 15th Finance Commission’s grants, is about Rs. 10,500 crore, spread across 131 cities! Our cities need at least 10-20 times more funding. NCAP must be made a Rs 25,000 crore programme and spread across the 1,000 most polluted towns in the country,” he said.

The NCAP must adopt measurement of PM 2.5 levels as the yardstick for performance NCAP must reorient its focus to key sources of emissions — burning of solid fuels, vehicular emissions, and industrial emissions, the former environment minister said.

“The NCAP must be given legal backing, an enforcement mechanism, and serious data monitoring capacity for every Indian city, beyond the current focus only on ‘non- attainment’ cities,” he argued.

Ramesh asserted that air pollution norms for coal power plants must be enforced immediately.

All power plants must install a Fluoride Gas Desulfurizer (FGD) by the end of 2026, he said.

“The National Green Tribunal’s independence must be restored, and the anti-people environmental law amendments of the last 10 years must be rolled back,” Ramesh said.

“Twice so far in Parliament — first on 29th July 2024 and then on 9th December 2025 — the Modi Government has tried to downplay the health impact of air pollution. The Modi Government is not blind to the truth, it is only attempting to cover up the scale of its incompetence and negligence,” the Congress leader alleged.