NEW DELHI: Focusing on ‘green growth’ through multi-pronged approach in different sectors, the budget may have sent an overall positive signal for environment and climate change but it lacks a clear direction to deal with the problem of air pollution despite proposing higher allocation for the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) that deals with the critical issue beyond Delhi-NCR.
The provision for the air pollution abatement measures, in fact, presents a mixed picture. Different provisions including clean energy push in power and transport sectors will help reduce pollutants, but the absence of dedicated attention to crop residue management or crop diversification will not help in resolving the issue during the peak pollution period in north-west India. The lack of focus will shift the responsibility of crop residue management from Centre to states – a proposition that does not appear to be encouraging for the cause.
The budget for the environment ministry at around Rs 3,079 crore saw an increase of over 24% compared to revised estimates (Rs 2,478 crore) of the current year, but it remains flat compared to the budget estimates of 2022-23.
The ‘control of pollution’ segment, conceptualised to provide financial assistance to pollution control boards/committees funding to NCAP, has, however, seen a consistent increase – from Rs 406 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 600 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 756 crore in 2023-24, a jump of 26% over current year.
The money will go to different states for strengthening their air pollution monitoring system and taking other related measures to keep a tab on various pollutants round the year. “The increased funding for NCAP is welcome, but the lack of attention to crop residue management or crop diversification mean there is unlikely to be any substantial improvement in crop residue burning this winter,” said Bhargav Krishna, fellow at New Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Policy Research (CPR).