Indian cities and air pollution: It’s time to get into mission mode
₹2,431 crore for all cities on the MCF list. Delhi, Chandigarh and Srinagar, as cities within Union territories, are not covered by the MCF since Finance Commissions prescribe transfers from the Centre only to independently governed states. The Patna Urban Agglomeration (ranked No.
20 in the World Air Quality Report list of most polluted cities) is on the MCF list. For an MCF city to meet the conditions for 100% of its allotment in 2023-24, it would need to have shown a 15% reduction in particulate matter relative to an agreed base year benchmark, and a 15% increase in the number of days of better than moderate air quality (less than AQI of 200), also similarly benchmarked. If Patna qualified in 2023-24, it would have got its prescribed allotment of ₹113 crore, a reasonable reward to strive for.
But Begusarai, the most polluted city in the world, was not on the MCF list, along with 39 other Indian cities too small in population to figure, although a few might have been part of urban agglomerations on the MCF list. Big or small, cities with dangerous levels of air quality rob us of that most fundamental of human rights, the right to breathe non-toxic air. This is not one of those environmental targets commonly perceived as elitist, like preserving the tiger population.
The poor are the worst sufferers from air pollution. Reliance on 15th FC-type incentives, welcome though that was, may not be enough. We need to move towards reducing air pollution in mission mode through inter-state and state-local partnerships.
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