Parliament Question: National strategy to combat air pollution

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1525 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.02.2026 National strategy to combat air pollution 1525. DR. SYED NASEER HUSSAIN: Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: (a) whether Government is aware that no district in India currently meets the World Health Organization’s standards for acceptable air quality and that Indian cities increasingly dominate global air pollution rankings; and (b) if so, the assessment of Government on major contributors to this crisis, including vehicle emissions, industrial pollution, construction dust, waste burning, brick kilns and thermal power plants? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a) to (b): World Health Organisation’s Air Quality Guidelines serve as only a guidance document and these are recommended values for air pollutants to help countries achieve air quality. However, countries prepare their air quality standards based on geography, environmental factors, background levels, socio-economic status and national circumstances. Air pollution is a collective result of multiple factors including geographical factors, anthropogenic activities in the high-density populated areas, arising from various sectors viz. Vehicular Pollution, Industrial Pollution, Dust from Construction and Demolition activities, Road and Open Areas Dust, Biomass Burning and Solid Waste burning and air pollution from dispersed sources, etc. Pollution levels across countries are not comparable due to differences in geographical settings, weather conditions, and national circumstances. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 12 air pollutants to safeguard public health and environment quality. To address air pollution in the urban areas, Government of India has launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to improve air quality in 130 non-attainment and million plus cities/urban agglomeration in 24 States/UTs. To identify various factors contributing to air pollution and to estimate their contribution to pollutant emissions and concentrations, Source apportionment (SA) studies are carried out by many cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Based on the SA studies conducted across various cities,major contributors to air pollution, include vehicular emissions (10-33%), industrial sources including thermal power plants (8-34%), road dust and construction activities (14-58%), and waste/biomass burning (8-29%). ***