MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s rural air is getting more polluted even as urban air quality improves, highlighting a gap in India’s city-centric clean-air strategy.Rural PM2.5 concentrations in the state rose 4.1% between 2014 and 2023, while urban levels fell 5.5%, according to a new analysis that questions whether pollution control focused primarily on cities can adequately protect people across the country.The analysis, published by ‘India Air Quality & Energy Insights’ and authored by Manoj Kumar, found that rural areas in most states breathe air nearly as polluted as their urban counterparts.In 16 of the 24 states assessed, the difference between urban and rural PM2.5 concentrations was less than 10% in 2023.The findings suggest that air pollution does not stop at city limits, leaving rural communities exposed even where they are outside the main focus of urban clean-air programmes.PM2.5 consists of fine particles measuring 2.5 micrometres or less that can penetrate deep into the lungs and are associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.The study found that urban PM2.5 concentrations were higher than rural levels in 22 states in 2023. However, the gap was marginal in several states:Tamil Nadu recorded a difference of just 1.2% and Karnataka 1.9%. In Kerala and West Bengal, rural concentrations were marginally higher than urban levels.
Rural air is not necessarily cleaner
A smaller urban-rural gap does not mean pollution levels are safe. India’s annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 is 40 micrograms per cubic metre.Rural concentrations exceeded this benchmark in several states, including Haryana (63.9), Uttar Pradesh (60.7), Chhattisgarh (48.4), Tripura (47.4) and Jharkhand (46.3) in 2023.Rural pollution also exceeded the standard in West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, despite urban-rural differences of less than 10% in these cases.The decade-long comparison revealed that improvements have been uneven. Rural PM2.5 declined in 22 of the 24 states assessed between 2014 and 2023, while urban concentrations fell in 23.The average decline was 7% in rural areas and 6.4% in urban areas. Maharashtra was among the exceptions to the rural improvement trend, with concentrations rising even as urban levels fell.
Clean-air planning needs a wider lens
The findings raise questions about the reach of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which focuses on reducing pollution in identified urban centres.The analysis argues that city-level interventions remain necessary but are insufficient on their own when pollution sources and the movement of pollutants extend across administrative boundaries.It recommends expanding air-quality monitoring, emissions inventories, pollution-source studies and mitigation plans to rural areas, alongside a regional or airshed-based approach.An airshed is a geographical area in which air pollutants move and affect multiple locations, often across city and district boundaries.The analysis used annual PM2.5 estimates from the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group at Washington University in St Louis, combined with Survey of India’s village-boundary data. It assessed 24 states over 2014-2023.The estimates represent average concentrations across mapped urban and rural areas, rather than population-weighted exposure.They indicate broad geographical patterns and do not establish the precise pollution exposure of individual residents.The central message is clear: improving air quality in cities alone may not deliver clean air to the wider population. Maharashtra’s contrasting urban and rural trends underline why pollution control needs to look beyond city boundaries.
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