Noida: Noida Authority utilised 40% of the funds allocated under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) over the last five years, with most of the expenditure directed towards road construction. Dust mitigation measures, the Authority said, helped reduce PM10 levels by 20%.Of the Rs 84 crore released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) between 2021 and 2026, Noida Authority has spent Rs 34 crore so far. Around Rs 22 crore, nearly 60% of the expenditure, went into building roads.The data, obtained from Prana portal that monitors 130 non-attainment cities on air pollution control, was submitted by Noida Authority before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently.A petition filed by environmentalist Amit Gupta last year accused the Authority of noncompliance with environmental norms during cable-laying, pipe repair, optical fibre and gas line work, and other construction activities that triggered dust pollution.In an affidavit submitted in response to the petition, the Authority’s manager (civil), Rahul Kumar, said the applicant had exaggerated the issue, arguing that developmental and maintenance works inevitably cause temporary “teething problems” until completion, a situation common to every city, including the national capital.Kumar submitted that Noida Authority spent Rs 34.3 crore of the total Rs 84.2 crore NCAP fund release. Of this, Rs 5.8 crore was spent purchasing 25 sprinkler-mounted trucks, Rs 2.1 crore on four mechanical road-sweeping machines, Rs 3.9 crore on 15 anti-smog guns, Rs 2.4 lakh on outdoor hoardings for public awareness, and Rs 22.6 crore was spent on strengthening roads.The Authority also submitted that the current average annual PM10 level stood at 155 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³), a 21% reduction from 197 micrograms per cubic metre recorded in the base year of 2020-21. Kumar said PM2.5 levels largely depended on combustion sources such as vehicular and industrial emissions and biomass burning, which do not entirely fall under the Authority’s jurisdiction.The petitioner, however, claimed that most of the work undertaken by the Authority existed only on paper while ground conditions continued to worsen. He also pointed out that the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board had imposed nearly Rs 30 crore in environmental compensation across roughly 2,200 air and dust pollution cases in Noida over the past decade, even when the Authority claimed that its pollution control measures had been effective.
