As cities choke on toxic smog, nearly 50% posts in pollution control panels in India remain vacant

On Tuesday morning, the AQI stood in the 'very poor' category at 381, a day after it soared to 'severe plus' category

Amid major cities reeling under the impact of air pollution, nearly 50 per cent of the sanctioned positions on pollution control boards and committees across the country remain vacant.

A question answered in the ongoing Parliament session revealed that apart from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), there are 28 state pollution control boards (SPCBs) and 8 pollution control committees (PCCs) that work in the UTs and the NCT of Delhi, according to Times of India.

According to the reply in Parliament, their sanctioned strength for scientific and technical posts is 6,932. Of these posts, 3,161 or 45.6% were vacant. The vacancy was 16.3% in CPCB as of November, 43.8% in PCCs and 47.6% in the SPCBs as of August.

An answer in March this year showed that of the 11,562 sanctioned positions in the SPCBs and PCCs, there were 5,671 or over 49% vacancies. Vacancies have ranged from 44% to 51% over the last five years. According to the March answer, 12 of the 28 SPCBs had over 50% vacancy.

Sikkim topped the list with 100% vacancy and was followed by Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, both lacking more than 70% staff. Kerala was the only large state where the vacancy was less than 10%. The vacancy was 9.3% in Goa, while Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland had no vacancies.Among PCCs, the vacancy was 44.5% in Delhi, while it was 69% in Ladakh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Lakshadweep had zero vacancies, while only 11.1% of the sanctioned strength of Chandigarh was vacant, according to TOI.

On Tuesday morning, the AQI in New Delhi was in the 'very poor' category, a day after it soared to 'severe plus' category, with readings touching 500 in several areas.

In Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) submitted in Bombay High court an affidavit detailing a series of measures undertaken for air pollution mitigation. The steps included sensor integration, issuance of stop-work notices under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), transition of bakeries to cleaner fuels, deployment of electric buses, dust mitigation units at critical junctions, and operation of construction and demolition waste processing facilities.

According to TOI, data from 44 urban agglomerations (UAs) showed that Noida, Delhi and Faridabad were at the bottom of the list when it came to fund utilisation under the National Clean Air Programme.

A parliamentary question answered in March showed that of the Rs 42 crore released to the national capital, only 32% was utilised. The proportion was 11.1% for Noida and 39% for Faridabad. In comparison, Surat utilised all of the funds alloted and Chennai 99%, while Kolkata utilised 87%.