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According to a Standing Committee report tabled in Parliament, out of the Revised Estimate 2024-25 allocation of Rs 858 crore for ‘control of pollution’, only Rs 7.22 crore had been spent as of January 31.
Air pollution levels in several Indian cities have reached alarming heights, with multiple studies highlighting its immediate and long-term health impacts. (Representative image)
Despite several Indian cities grappling with alarming levels of air pollution, the Environment Ministry has not been able to use more than 1 per cent of the funds allocated to it under a scheme to combat air pollution, according to a Standing Committee report tabled in Parliament.
“At a time when the Ministry is required to address the grave and critical challenge of deteriorating air quality, it has not been able to decide on the continuation of the concerned scheme, as a result of which not even 1 per cent of the funds allocated for the scheme have been utilised so far,” the panel noted with “extreme concern”.
Highlighting that air pollution has far exceeded permissible limits in several Indian cities, the committee, led by Parliamentarians from multiple states, recommended that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change urgently introspect and take serious note of the reasons for this “gross under-utilisation.”
“Air pollution has assumed gigantic proportions and has become a national issue. Although Delhi has been in the news for its ever-deteriorating air quality, other cities across the country are also experiencing high AQI levels,” it stated.
According to the report, out of the Revised Estimate (RE) 2024-25 allocation of Rs 858 crore for ‘Control of Pollution’, only Rs 7.22 crore had been spent as of January 31.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change stated that it was shocked to note that Rs 858 crore allocated for ‘Control of Pollution’—amounting to 27.44 per cent of the ministry’s annual RE allocation—remained unutilised. This was due to the fact that approval for the continuation of the Control of Pollution scheme until 2025-26 was still awaited, even at the fag end of the financial year.
Air pollution levels in several Indian cities have reached alarming heights, with multiple studies highlighting its immediate and long-term health impacts. The high concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) have particularly exposed people to various respiratory ailments while reducing their life expectancy in the long term, data suggests.
In its response to the panel, the Ministry stated that the majority of funds allocated under the scheme for the financial year 2024-25 could not be utilised so far, as approval for its continuation until 2025-26 was still pending. “Planning for disbursement and utilisation of the funds is already in place and will be executed as soon as approval is received,” it said, adding that it intends to spend the Rs 853 crore budget for FY 2025-26 under the Control of Pollution scheme across various components as per the approval.
Furthermore, the Parliamentary Panel also took note of the mega plantation drives organised by the Ministry and highlighted the high mortality rate of these plants.
With the summer season approaching and heatwaves sweeping across parts of the country, the committee also raised alarm over the devastating impacts of rising temperatures. “The coming months of 2025-26 are likely to see temperatures soaring 1-3℃ above the average recorded in previous years across various cities, particularly in Delhi, where they may be abnormally high,” it stated.
The Panel recommended that the Ministry immediately formulate and implement a national-level heat action plan to mitigate the heatwave conditions expected to affect several states in the coming months.
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