Lok Sabha Question No. 165 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-15
Subject: Air Quality
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: VIJAY KUMAR S.R., SHASHI THAROOR, R. VANAROJA, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, ANURAG SINGH THAKUR, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, SUDHEER GUPTA, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION N0. 165

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.12.2017

## Air Quality

## 165. SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

SHRIMATI VANAROJA R.:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH.

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

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

- (a)    whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  Indian  air  quality  standard  limits  the  safe exposure for Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 upto 40 µg/m 3 and a recent new study on global air pollution by the US based institutes claims that the India's worsening pollution level including air pollution caused millions of premature deaths in 2015;
- (b)    if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  details  of  the  cities  in  the  country  that  are currently exposed to beyond 40 µg/m 3 of PM 2.5 concentrations; and
- (c)    the  measures  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  bring  the  PM  2.5 concentration  to  the  Indian  air  quality  standard  limits  in  order  to  reduce  air  pollution related diseases and to check various types of pollution in the country?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Air  Quality  Standards  in  India  are  defined  by  National  Ambient  Air  Quality Standards (NAAQS) which lays down permissible limits with respect to twelvepollutants  including  PM2.5.  The  report  entitled  'State  of  Global  Air  2017' prepared by US based institutes referred  to deaths in India and China due to long term exposure to PM 2.5 in 2015. However the numbers are not validated for Indian conditions and there are no conclusive data available to establish direct correlation of death exclusively with air pollution.  Air pollution is one of the triggering factors for respiratory associated ailments and diseases and it is acknowledged that higher the

level of air pollution higher is the risk to lungs in a given area. Further, the levels of PM2.5  are  derived  from  PM10  levels  in  the  report  which  may  vary  for  each monitoring site and hence may not be amenable to generalization.

- (b) Central Pollution Control Board is monitoring ambient air quality in 691 locations covering  303  cities/towns  in  29  States  and  6  Union  Territories  across  the  country under  National  Air  Quality  Monitoring  Programme  (NAMP).  Out  of  303  cities, PM2.5 is being monitored in 79 cities and 31 cities exceeded the PM2.5of 40 µg/m 3 . The list of these cities is given in Annexure.
- (c) The  Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  address  air  pollution  which inter  alia, include  notification  of  National  Ambient  Air  Quality  Standards;  setting  up  of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality; introduction of cleaner / alternate  fuels  like  gaseous  fuel  (CNG,  LPG  etc.),  ethanol  blending,  launching  of National Air Quality index;  universalization of BS-IV by 2017; leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards by 1st April, 2020; notification of Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules; banning of burning of biomass; promotion of public transport network; Pollution Under Control Certificate; issuance of directions under Section 18(1)(b) of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and under  Section  5  of  Environment  (Protection)  Act,  1986;  installation  of  on-line continuous (24x7) monitoring devices by major industries; collection of Environmental Protection Charge on more than 2000 CC diesel vehicles; notification of graded response action plan for Delhi and NCR etc.

***

ANNEXURE

## Citiesexceeding NAAQS of 40 µg/m 3 with respect to PM2.5 (annual average in descending order) during 2016

|   Sl No. | State                | City             |   PM2.5 Annual average (µg/m3) |
|----------|----------------------|------------------|--------------------------------|
|        1 | Chandigarh           | Chandigarh       |                            123 |
|        2 | Delhi                | Delhi            |                            118 |
|        3 | West Bengal          | Asansol          |                             88 |
|        4 | West Bengal          | Durgapur         |                             74 |
|        5 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | Silvassa         |                             73 |
|        6 | West Bengal          | Kolkata          |                             70 |
|        7 | Goa                  | Panaji (Tiswadi) |                             70 |
|        8 | Daman & Diu          | Daman            |                             68 |
|        9 | West Bengal          | Howrah           |                             67 |
|       10 | Goa                  | Vasco (Mormugao) |                             67 |
|       11 | West Bengal          | Barrackpore      |                             59 |
|       12 | Karnataka            | Gulburga         |                             59 |
|       13 | Telangana            | Hydrabad         |                             58 |
|       14 | Madhya Pradesh       | Indore           |                             53 |
|       15 | Madhya Pradesh       | Gwalior          |                             52 |
|       16 | Madhya Pradesh       | Chhindwara       |                             52 |
|       17 | Karnataka            | Bangalore        |                             51 |

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|   18. | Odisha         | Sambalpur           |   51 |
|-------|----------------|---------------------|------|
|    19 | Odisha         | Talcher             |   51 |
|    20 | Odisha         | Jharsuguda          |   48 |
|    21 | Odisha         | Balasore            |   47 |
|    22 | Odisha         | Kalinga Nagar       |   46 |
|    23 | Goa            | Mormugao (Mormugao) |   44 |
|    24 | Madhya Pradesh | Katni               |   44 |
|    25 | Madhya Pradesh | Ujjain              |   43 |
|    26 | Madhya Pradesh | Singrauli           |   42 |
|    27 | Madhya Pradesh | Prithampur          |   42 |
|    28 | West Bengal    | Haldia              |   42 |
|    29 | Odisha         | Cuttack             |   42 |
|    30 | Odisha         | Konark              |   41 |
|    31 | Odisha         | Paradeep            |   41 |