First, a bit of history behind these integrated plans to fight Ahmedabad's air pollution.

The city's earlier Air Information and Response (AIR) Plan, 2017, was based on relaying AQI warnings from 10 continuous air monitoring stations to help citizens avoid harmful exposure, in tandem with city-led health risk communications and longer-term policy strategies to achieve clean air.

The plan noted the following gaps in mitigation strategies: Increase in vehicular traffic, traffic congestion due to encroachment, more than 500 construction sites in the city, and over 1,000 'Red' category industries in the city, which, an Urban Emission report confirms, are the largest contributors to the following pollutants — sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter (PM).

The second largest contributor to pollution was dust emissions from road re-suspension and construction activities. 

By 2019, the city had adopted a Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP). The provisions of the CRCAP have been developed mostly from the CAAP. 

A Centre for Science and Environment report from July 2024 shows though industries are the largest source for air pollution in Ahmedabad, "a significant amount of funding has been utilised in the road dust sector (64 per cent)... In contrast, only 0.61 per cent has been spent on the industry sector.” 

The report also notes that “a review of the available PM2.5 source apportionment studies from different cities shows that while the contribution of road dust to PM2.5 concentration can be high in some northern cities, in most cases, contribution of combustion sources — industry, vehicles and waste burning — is significant. Equally important is the share of secondary pollutants formed from NOx, SO2 and other gases. 

With the current focus on dust control, key combustion sources, including transport, industry, and households and 'open' eateries — where solid fuels are used — often do not receive adequate priority. As most mitigatory actions taken are city-specific, with hard lines drawn along municipal boundaries, most industrial sources and power plants remain outside the orbit of these actions, along with small- and medium-scale units running in "non-conforming areas" of the cities. 

Adaptive regulations for dust — one of the highest contributors of particulate matter in cities — include regular cleaning of road dust, construction of pucca pavements along roads, maintaining pothole-free roads for free flow of traffic and development of green belts, gardens, parks/community spaces in open areas and near schools and housing societies.

“The increase in PM10 highlights gaps in implementation and enforcement. While the action plan provided a framework, challenges such as insufficient regulation regulation of industrial and vehicular emissions, and unregulated construction dust, have countered its benefits. Continued reliance on private vehicles and limited expansion of public transport have further aggravated the issue," said Pradheeps, climate and environment expert at Urban Management Centre, Ahmedabad. 

The CRCAP also introduces “strict enforcement and monitoring of provisions of the Environmental Clearance Order in construction sites having a built-up area greater than 20,000 sqm”, “Pollution Under Control (PUC) checking drives with support from Traffic Police, and fuel adulteration drives with support from the district supply office under NCAP”, and 5 per cent discounts on new vehicle purchases, waiver of registration fees, vehicle tax discounts (25 per cent for non-transport vehicles; 15 per cent for transport vehicles).

As improved air quality is a goal for the transport sector as well, the plan aims at implementing a public bicycle-sharing scheme, enabling walkability by including access, enhancing integration with intermediate transport options for improved last-mile connectivity, along with improving the frequency, coverage and connectivity of a public bus service. 

With registration of new motor vehicles in the city  going up steadily, from 4.13 million in 2018, to 4.26 million in 2019 and 4.57 million in 2020, only time will tell if the dust and emission control plans in the CRCAP can offset this growth. Incidentally, walking is the preferred mode of transport for 37 per cent of the population, followed by two-wheelers (26 per cent) and only 11 per cent for public transport.

The CRCAP proposes an increase in fleet size for public transport. But this is not the same as incentivising or prioritising public transport. There is no clear roadmap for prioritising road-based public transport, nore is there any plan for a network of pavements and cycle tracks to promote non-motorised transport.

Tellingly, there is no emphasis on disincentivising private vehicles. Given the parking constraints, the CRCAP emphasises demand management, as opposed to demand regulation, which could have discouraged private vehicle ownership.

With regards to industries — the other major contributor of air pollutants — the CRCAP notifies that there are a “total 1,023 'red' category and 336 'orange' category industries in Ahmedabad.

As a solution, GPCB has proposed a ‘Particulate Matter Trading Scheme’ to give industries an incentive to reduce PM emissions. And Environment improvement charge (EIC) may also be introduced, based on the category of industries and the initiatives taken to mitigate air pollution. 

However, there is no mention of a way to monitor and verify status and scale of fuel change in the industries, adoption of emission control technology, or of cleaner processes (by types of industries).

There are no mitigating provisions for air quality. Nor is there any impact assessment technique to accelerate adoption of clean fuels and technology transition. The actions proposed are mostly voluntary.

"For long-lasting change or even substantial improvement, sources of emissions need to be strictly targeted. As long as industries continue to function the way they do, without a stricture curbing their emissions, no amount of restorative or retributive measures will bring about permanent change," Ahmedabad-based climate researcher Yash Dahima told The Secretariat. 

In short, Ahmedabad's climate resilient plan expects the city to voluntarily buckle itself up to deal with its air pollution crisis. 

(This is the final part of a three-part series on Ahmedabad. You can read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here)