New Delhi: The Congress said India is facing a nationwide air pollution emergency and accused the government of failing to address what it described as a “structural crisis” in air quality, calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, on Sunday, said new findings by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) confirm that India’s worsening air pollution is a national public health crisis, while government measures remain “exceedingly ineffective and inadequate”.

Citing satellite-based data, the study found that 44 per cent of Indian cities – 1,787 out of 4,041 statutory towns – suffer from chronic air pollution, with annual PM2.5 concentrations exceeding national limits consistently over five years between 2019 and 2024, excluding 2020.

Ramesh said that despite the widespread severity of air pollution, only 130 cities are currently covered under the NCAP, and 28 of them still lack Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS). Among the 102 cities with monitoring systems, 100 reported PM10 pollution levels of 80 per cent or higher, he added.

He criticised what he termed the “Notional Clean Air Programme”, alleging that the NCAP addresses only 4 per cent of India’s chronically polluted cities and therefore requires urgent restructuring.

Ramesh said the first step must be formally acknowledging the nationwide public health crisis caused by toxic air. He advocated revisiting and completely reforming both the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set in 2009.

Under NAAQS norms, the permissible fine particulate matter (PM2.5) level is 60 µg/m3 for 24 hours and 40 µg/m3 annually, compared to the World Health Organisation’s guideline of 15 µg/m3 over 24 hours and 5 µg/m3 annually, he said.

Ramesh demanded a tenfold increase in funding, saying the current NCAP budget of about Rs 10,500 crore for 131 cities is insufficient. He said India requires at least Rs 25,000 crore in funding, expanded to cover the 1,000 most polluted cities.

He also urged the government to prioritise PM2.5 as the primary performance indicator, focus on major pollution sources such as solid fuel burning, vehicular emissions and industrial discharge, and give the NCAP legal authority, strict enforcement capability and real-time data monitoring across all cities.

Calling for immediate enforcement of air pollution norms for coal-fired power plants, Ramesh said all units must install Fluoride Gas Desulfurisers (FGDs) by the end of 2026. He further demanded restoration of the National Green Tribunal’s independence and reversal of what he termed anti-environment legal amendments introduced in the past decade.

He alleged that the Modi government has repeatedly attempted to downplay the severe health impacts of air pollution, including statements made in Parliament in July 2024 and December 2025.

“The Modi Government is not blind to the truth; it is only attempting to cover up the scale of its incompetence and negligence,” Ramesh claimed.

PTI