Lok Sabha Question No. 135 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-15
Subject: Increase in Pollution Level
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA, KAMAL NATH, ANJU BALA, B. SREERAMULU, Tejpratap Singh,Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 135

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.12.2017

## Increase in Pollution Level

## 135. SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA:

SHRI KAMAL NATH:

SHRIMATI ANJU BALA:

SHRI B. SRIRAMULU:

SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether keeping in view the life threatening high pollution level in Delhi and in adjoining National  Capital  Region  (NCR),  the  National  Human  Rights  Commission  has  sought details from the concerned States about effective steps being taken to tackle the situation;
- (b) if so,  the  details  of  reports  sent  by  the  Union  Environment  Ministry  and  State Environment authorities of the concerned States to NHRC;
- (c) whether  the  Union  Government/  Central  Pollution  Control  Board  have  taken  any effective  steps  to  protect  the  citizens  in  Delhi  and  NCR  from  the  endangered  level  of pollution, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  high  level  Committee  set  up  by  the  Union  Government  to  propose  and monitor  solutions  to  air  pollution  which  has  reached  at  a  dangerous  level  has  since submitted its report;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and action contemplated by the Union Government thereon; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  study  conducted  by  Energy  Policy  Institute, Chicago University which suggest most cities in the Indo-Gangetic plain need emergency measures immediately to bring down annual average Particulate Matter 2.5 levels and if so, the details thereof and the Government's reaction thereto?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a)  to  (f)  The  National  Human  Right  Commission  (NHRC)  had  sought  details  from  the concerned states about the effective steps being taken to tackle higher pollution level in Delhi and NCR. The information has been submitted by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change to the NHRC on 1.12.2017. The details are enclosed at Annexure. CPCB continuously monitors  air  quality  through  691  manual  stations  under  National  Air  Monitoring  Programme (NAMP). The available  data shows that  Indo-Gangetic plains  have  higher  level  of Particulate Matter,  which  is  consistent  with  the  study  of  Energy  Policy  Institute,  Chicago  University. Government  has  issued  necessary  directions  to  the  non-  attainment  cities  for  abatement  of pollution in the said region.

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## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 135 DUE FOR  ANSWER  ON 15.12.2017 REGARDING 'INCREASE IN POLLUTION  LEVEL'  RAISED  BY  SHRI  JYOTIRADITYA  M.SCINDIA:  SHRI KAMAL NATH: SHRIMATI ANJU BALA: SHRI B. SRIRAMULU: SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV, HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

## MAJOR INITIATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF AIR POLLUTION

- (i) A Task Force has been Setup under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to Prime Minister  to  tackle  the  issue  of  air  pollution  in  Delhi-NCR.  This  Task  Force  has Cabinet  Secretary  and  Secretaries  of  relevant  Ministries  as  members.  The  first meeting of the Task Force Committee was held on 4/12/2017. The Task Force has set up a sub-committee headed by Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, to  come  up  with  an  action  plan  to  tackle  the  issue  of  stubble  burning.  The  subcommittee is deliberating on this matter and is likely to give its report shortly.
- (ii) A Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for  control  of air  pollution  in  Delhi  and NCR region  has  been  notified.  This  plan  specifies  actions  required  for  controlling particulate matter (PM emissions from various sources and prevent PM10 and PM2.5 levels to go beyond 'moderate' national Air Quality Index (AQI) category.
- (iii) Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has issued a comprehensive set of directions under section 18 (1) (b) of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1986 for implementation  of  42  measures  to  mitigate  air  pollution  in  major  cities  including Delhi and NCR comprising of action points to counter air pollution in major cities.
- (iv) National Ambient Air Quality Standards envisaging 12 pollutants have been notified under Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and also notified 115 emission/effluent standards  for  104  different  sectors  of  industries,  besides  32  general  standards  for ambient air.
- (v) The  air  quality  in  the  country  is  assessed  under  National  Air  Quality  Monitoring Programme  (NAMP)  through  a  network  comprising  of  680  operating  manual monitoring stations located in 300 cities/towns all across the country and 82Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (CAAQM) stations.
- (vi) National Air Quality index (AQI) was launched by the Prime Minister in April, 2015 starting with 14 cities and now extended to 40 cities.
- (vii) Bharat  Stage  IV  (BS-IV)  norms  has  been  launched  for  mandatory  implementation since 1 st April 2017 and leap-frogging to BS- VI by 1 st April, 2020 has been proposed by Government to mitigate pollution from vehicular emission.
- (viii) Ban on burning of leaves, biomass, municipal solid waste has been imposed;
- (ix) Installation  of  on-line  continuous  (24x7)  monitoring  devices  by  17  major  polluting industries have been made mandatory.
- (x) Advisories were issued for ban on bursting of sound emitting crackers between 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM
- (xi) Regular  co-ordination  meetings  were  held  in  the  Ministry  this  year  at  official  and ministerial level with Delhi and other State Governments within the NCR to avoid the emergency situation.
- (xii) In order to involve people in the effort, Government had launched a campaign called 'Harit Diwali and Swasth Diwali' involving over 2000 schools in Delhi and over two lakh schools in the country. The Government had also organised a Mini Marathon for 'Swachh Hawa for Swachh and Swasth Bharat' on 15 th October 2017 at India Gate in which nearly 15,000 school children had participated.
- (xiii) As  part  of  Clean  Air  Initiative  of  CII-NITI  Aayog,  a  Task  Force  was  constituted under  the  chairmanship  of  Additional  Secretary,  MoEF&CC.  As  part  of  the  Task Force on the basis various meetings and consultation, this Ministry has come up with report  on  'Action  Plan  for  Biomass  Management',  which  has  detailed  out  the financial  and  technological  mechanism  for  addressing  the  issue  of  crop  residue burning.
- (xiv) CPCB has taken a number of Proactive steps  to help improve ground implementation
-  40  CPCB teams deployed for ground feedback on air  polluting activities  in Delhi - September 01, 2017 onwards
-  Field visit to four pollution hotspots (Anand Vihar, ITO, Punjabi Bagh and DTU) and suggested interventions - July 2017
-  On the spot reporting to DPCC, and weekly summary reports to Delhi Govt.

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