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NCAP’s Uneven Battle: Tracking Pollution Control in Nagpur and Chandrapur

NCAP’s Uneven Battle: Tracking Pollution Control in Nagpur and Chandrapur
NCAP’s Uneven Battle: Tracking Pollution Control in Nagpur and Chandrapur

India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) set out to cut particulate pollution by 20–30% from 2017 levels by 2024 (and later extended to 40% by 2026).


In the industrial belt of Vidarbha, Maharashtra, heavy-emitting hubs like Nagpur and Chandrapur were cast as key targets. Nagpur’s economy centres on transport, power and industry, while Chandrapur, nicknamed the “City of Black Gold”, hosts coal plants, mines and cement works. Both cities were declared non-attainment under NCAP, with action plans drawn up by authorities.

 

Recent data shows some progress, for example, Chandrapur saw the number of “Good” air-quality days rise from 32 to 73 in 2024, and Nagpur’s annual average PM₂.₅ level fell about 20% in 2024. But experts caution that many of these gains may owe more to weather variations than to sustained pollution control.


As one environmental researcher observed, the drop in dirty-air days in Chandrapur was likely tied to unseasonal rain and wind, not just NCAP measures.


This report examines how NCAP is faring in Nagpur and Chandrapur, tracking official data, city initiatives and experts’ views to assess whether the campaign has truly cleared the skies over Vidarbha’s industrial heartlands.


NCAP and Vidarbha’s Pollution Challenge


The NCAP was launched in 2019 by India’s environment ministry as a time-bound strategy to combat worsening air pollution.


It initially set an ambitious goal of reducing fine particulate (PM) concentrations by 20–30% by 2024 relative to 2017 levels, but in 2022, the timeline was extended to 2026 with a tougher 40% reduction target.

Under NCAP, 102 cities (later expanded to 131) were identified as non-attainment and asked to prepare city-specific action plans. In Maharashtra, Nagpur and Chandrapur are among these NCAP cities.


Government records confirm that “Chandrapur city has been declared as a Non-attainment City” and that the state pollution board prepared an air pollution control plan for it. Chandrapur’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) index (CEPI) is 76.41 (as of 2018), which ranks it among India’s “critically polluted” urban areas.


NCAP provided funding and technical support to these cities, while a national ranking contest (Swachh Vayu Survekshan) scores cities on their clean-air efforts.


State data show that over the first five years of NCAP, funding of over ₹11,500 crore was released nationwide to the non-attainment cities. Yet analyses by civil society groups and journalists have raised doubts about the programme’s impact.


A recent Down To Earth report noted that sixteen Indian cities, despite receiving nearly ₹1,000 crore each on average, still appear in the list of the world’s 50 most polluted cities, casting NCAP under scrutiny.


 In Maharashtra specifically, an air-quality review by Respirer Living Sciences found that by late 2024, ten out of 19 NCAP-monitored cities actually showed rising PM₂.₅ levels over the 2019–24 period.


Under NCAP, Nagpur and Chandrapur were counted in these analyses; they face entrenched sources of emissions that make targets hard to achieve. The evidence so far suggests mixed outcomes: some year-on-year improvements in certain years, but still overall pollution well above national standards.


Air Quality Trends in Nagpur

 

Nagpur, the winter capital of Maharashtra, has seen a steady improvement in its official pollution rankings in recent years.


In the 2025 Swachh Vayu survey (category I cities, population over one million), Nagpur climbed to 10th place with a score of 185, up from 18th place and 166 points in 2023.

City authorities have attributed this rise to several initiatives under NCAP. They have added mechanical road sweepers and sprinklers to suppress dust, blacktopped dirt roads, and even begun “biomining” of old waste dumps, while planning a smart traffic management system and new urban green spaces.


According to local media reports, the municipal commissioner noted that hotspots of heavy PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ pollution have been identified for intensive monitoring, and work to curb construction-site dust and waste burning is underway.


These efforts may be bearing fruit in the data. The Respirer analysis found Nagpur’s annual average PM₂.₅ level dropped from 51.35 μg/m³ in 2023 to 40.53 μg/m³ in 2024. This 21% decrease brought Nagpur closer to the national standard (40 μg/m³).


National monitors show that Nagpur’s air is now rated “Moderate” more often, and there have been fewer extreme pollution events. Still, the figures remain more than eight times the World Health Organisation guideline (5 μg/m³).


Experts caution that Nagpur’s improvements are fragile. City officials themselves admitted that under NCAP, Nagpur spent only about 75% of its allotted funds, hampering progress. Indeed, one analysis noted that Nagpur was among 12 cities nationwide with less than 75% fund utilisation under NCAP.


Urban planners warn that without full deployment of promised technologies (like real-time pollution sensors and rapid-response cleaning), the city could regress.


From a health perspective, the rising rank is encouraging but incomplete. Mobile air quality trackers still record regularly high PM₂.₅ concentrations on most days.


An independent report noted that Nagpur, Mumbai, and a few other cities have bucked state trends of worsening pollution, but that many urban centres, including Thane, Ulhasnagar and even Nagpur, once saw persistent pollution above safe limits.


In short, Nagpur’s air appears to have cleaned up somewhat by one metric (Swachh Vayu score), but residents, especially those near industrial zones, still breathe air with pollutant levels above the national standard much of the time.


Air Quality Trends in Chandrapur


Chandrapur’s story is similar. Small gains clouded by big challenges. Data compiled by the CPCB show that in 2024, Chandrapur recorded 73 days of “Good” air quality, compared to only 32 such days in 2023.


In raw terms, this halved the number of severely polluted days, though 293 out of 366 days still fell into “Satisfactory” to “Poor” categories.

Notably, 2024 had zero days rated “Very Poor” or “Severe,” thanks largely to unusually wet winters and windy conditions that dispersed soot. Over the year, 16 days were flagged as “Poor,” with no day hitting the worst bands. Overall, Chandrapur’s PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ levels fell modestly from 2023, so that the total count of days exceeding the national particulate norms dipped from 333 to 293.


Local experts, however, are sceptical that the programme is driving these numbers. As one researcher observed, the drop in polluting days had more to do with random weather than new policies. “The absence of ‘Very Poor’ or ‘Severe’ air days is a relief,” said an environmental scientist, “but the rise in particulate matter and ground-level ozone pollution still poses serious health concerns.” Chandrapur’s official air plan (drawn up by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board) is reportedly under implementation, but industrial emissions remain largely unchecked.


A government report confirms that an action plan exists and is at various stages, but stops short of listing any major outcomes yet. In practice, some of the city’s monitoring stations, particularly around the Khutala industrial area and the coal belt near Ghuggus, continue to register pollution far above the city centre.


To gauge how bad things still are: as one environmental review notes, Chandrapur’s annual PM₂.₅ typically hovers in the 35–50 μg/m³ range. This is roughly 7–10 times the WHO guideline and well above India’s own limit of 40 μg/m³.


Industry and coal combustion dominate the mix: the area’s massive thermal power station emits twice the allowed SO₂ limits, and these gases react in the atmosphere to form secondary PM₂.₅.


The C&EN magazine calls Chandrapur “critically polluted”, noting that industry, coal plants and smelters, plus regional secondary aerosols, account for most of its particulate load.

While there are fewer “bad days,” the baseline remains hazardous. Health professionals in Chandrapur report rising respiratory illness even as monitors show the city clearing “Very Poor” days. In summary, while official air quality indices have inched up, Chandrapur still exceeds safety standards nearly every day of the year.


The data from Nagpur and Chandrapur paint a mixed picture. On one hand, each city has recorded modest improvements, fewer extreme smog episodes, better rankings and slightly lower annual PM averages. On the other hand, ambient pollution levels remain stubbornly above safe limits, and the reductions achieved so far often seem tied to temporary factors like weather.


Civil society activists and experts warn that these improvements are fragile. As an NCAP expert noted in 2024, many cities in Maharashtra (as elsewhere) have shown only marginal or no improvement, and additional rainy-season data might erase the recent gains.

They argue that unless local authorities step up enforcement of industrial emissions, of vehicle standards, of road-dust control, the cities could slide back.


In practical terms, citizens in these industrial towns remain at risk. Both Nagpur and Chandrapur still fail to meet India’s own air standards on most days. Respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses linked to pollution are rising.


Experts point out that neither city has yet fully deployed advanced monitoring or rapid-response cleaning measures promised under NCAP. For example, a review found that Nagpur spent far less on pollution-control measures than allocated, and Chandrapur’s action plan has not yet translated into industry-wide upgrades. The looming deadline of NCAP targets adds urgency.


The modest successes of 2024 could offer lessons, and warnings, for policy. They show that in Vidarbha’s industrial centres, improved rainfall or one-off interventions can cut pollution temporarily.

But to sustain clean-air gains, local leaders must maintain momentum. In the words of air-quality researchers, these cities “are at a crossroads.” Promoting electric vehicles, curbing coal use, managing waste burning and enforcing new clean-air norms will be crucial.


The current data suggest NCAP’s broad measures have not yet turned the tide. In Vidarbha’s coal belt, many feel the battle has just begun.

 


References




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