The 21 cities nominated for clean air include Varanasi, Dhanbad, Barnihat, Bareilly, Firozabad, Dehradun, Tuticorin, Nalagarh, Moradabad, Khurja, Trichy, Kohima, Lucknow, Kanpur, Kadapa, Shiv Sagar, Sunder Nagar, Agra, Greater Mumbai, Rishikesh and Parwana. According to the data, Khanna, Durgapur, Kurnool, Dera Baba Nanak, Vadodara, Allahabad, Asansol, Hyderabad, Gorakhpur, Ranchi, Bengaluru, Akola, Anantapur, Durg Bhilai Nagar, Surat have seen a 20-30 per cent increase in PM10 levels in the same period. Whereas a decrease was recorded in Noida.
The air of these cities has also become clean
At the same time, 21 cities Delhi, Howrah, Thane, Latur, Nellore, Gajraula, Alwar, Chittoor, Kala Amb, Mandi Govindgarh, Amravati, Patiala, Jaipur, Ongole, Chandrapur, Nashik, Jhansi, Sangli, Kota, Davanagere and Rajahmundry recorded a 10-20 percent reduction in PM 10 pollution. India launched NCAP in 2019 with the aim of reducing ultra-fine particle PM 10 pollution by 20-30 percent by 2024, considering 2017 as the base year.
Surat's air was the cleanest
Surat was ranked as India's top major city for improved air quality, followed by Jabalpur and Agra. The Union Environment Ministry presented the awards at a national workshop organised on the occasion of 'International Day of Clean Air for Clear Blue Skies' in Jaipur. Surat, Jabalpur and Agra are in the top three positions among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh, while Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh), Amravati (Maharashtra) and Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) are in the top three positions among cities with a population of more than three.