Noida’s city-level air pollution action strategy has attracted scrutiny from urban planners and clean air advocates after it emerged that the document lacks explicit pollution reduction targets, raising questions about the city’s readiness to confront worsening air quality amid rapid urban growth.
The gap matters for residents’ health, investors in housing and infrastructure, and policymakers working on sustainable development across the National Capital Region (NCR). Under the regional air quality framework overseen by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), neighbouring cities like Greater Noida have set clear goals for lowering annual average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the broader Air Quality Index (AQI), with timetables tied to national standards. Greater Noida’s plan, for example, aims to reduce PM2.5 from about 73 µg/m³ in 2025 to 60 µg/m³ by 2026 and to reach an average AQI of roughly 100 by the end of the year — metrics designed to guide implementation and performance measurement. By contrast, Noida’s action plan lists historical air quality figures without committing to specific year-on-year reduction targets for key pollutants such as PM2.5 or PM10. It also does not propose an expansion of continuous air monitoring stations to improve spatial data coverage, even as the region grapples with recurrent episodes of “severe” and “very poor” air quality during winter and peak construction months.
Urban planners argue that the absence of measurable goals undermines the credibility of the plan and weakens accountability mechanisms for enforcement. “Targets translate broad commitments into operational criteria,” said an urban environment specialist. “When a city omits them, it becomes difficult to link interventions — such as vehicle emission checks or dust control measures — to specific outcomes, especially against a backdrop of rapid industrial and real estate development.” The issue also intersects with broader regional efforts. In the NCR, the overarching strategy seeks to cut average AQI by about 15 per cent by 2026 through a combination of transport electrification, road dust management, and waste burning curbs — a multi-sectoral approach that depends on buy-in from all member cities. Without clear targets from each urban node, achieving collective improvements becomes more complex.
Residents and health advocates have pointed to data showing days with AQI well above national standards. Persistent exposure to elevated PM2.5 is linked to respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular strain, and reduced productivity, making robust planning essential for equitable urban wellbeing. Consolidating real-time monitoring with clearly defined reduction pathways would help residents understand progress and hold authorities to account. Transport and infrastructure planning also play a role. Recent governmental strategy reviews indicate that measures such as expanding electric vehicle charging networks, enhancing public transport and implementing dust control on construction sites are essential levers for reducing emissions. Yet, in the absence of measurable benchmarks, it remains unclear how these initiatives will be tracked or evaluated against outcomes.
Going forward, reworking Noida’s action plan to include quantifiable pollution targets and expanded monitoring infrastructure could strengthen the city’s climate resilience and align it with regional and national air quality commitments. Such amendments would provide a data-driven basis for policy, help bridge planning and enforcement, and ensure that health, environment and economic growth objectives are pursued in tandem.
Also Read: Noida Airport Busway Nears Completion and Expansion
Noida Urban Strategy Omits Measurable Air Goals
