Lok Sabha Question No. 2032 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-29
Subject: Online Monitoring of Air Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ravindra Kushawaha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2032

TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2019

## Online Monitoring of Air Pollution

## 2032. SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  any  policy  for  online  monitoring  of  air  pollution  in various States and UTs including Delhi-NCR;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the Government  has  taken  initiatives to improve  manual  air quality monitoring  system  as  the  air  quality  of  most  of  the  cities  of  the  country  is continuously in a state of decline;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)   the  concrete  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  deal  with  the  said  problem  keeping  in view the deteriorating environment in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) &  (b) The  Central  Government  in  association  with  State/UT  Governmentshas installed 205 online Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) in 114 cities  including  Delhi-NCR,  across  the  country.  Further,  the  Central  Government  has launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 102 non-attainment cities to tackle the air  pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner. The objectivesinclude augmentation  and  evolving  of  effective  ambient  air  quality  monitoring  network  across  the country (manual and real time stations).

(c)& (d) The Central Government in association with State/UT Governments has implemented  National  Air  Quality  Monitoring  Programme  (NAMP)  for  augmentation  of manual  air  quality  monitoring  system  in  the  country.  Presently,  ambient  air  quality  is monitored at  793  locations  covering  344  cities/towns  in  28  States  and  7  Union  Territories across the country under NAMP. Also, a number of measures are taken to ensure the quality of  the  data  of  ambient  air  quality  monitoring  stations  which  include  regular  evaluation  of ambient  air  quality  monitoring  stations  and  monitoring  laboratories,  organising  of  training programsetc.

(e) Central Government has taken a number of regulatory measures for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution in the country. A Comprehensive Air Plan (CAP) for Delhi

NCR has been developed  identifying  the  timelines  and  implementing  agencies  for  actions delineated. The Central Government has notified a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for  Delhi  and  NCR  for  actions  during  different  levels  of  pollution.  The  nature,  scope  and rigor of measures to be taken are linked to levels of pollution viz. severe + or emergency, severe,  very  poor,  moderate  to  poor  and  moderate,  after  due  consideration  by  authorities concerned.  Also,  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  launched National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP) in  January  2019  to  tackle  the  problem  of  air pollution in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as base year.  The plan includes 102 nonattainment  cities,  across  23  States  and  Union  Territories,  on  the  basis  of  their  ambient  air quality data between 2011 and 2015.

Several initiatives taken by the Government are annexed as Annexure-I.

*****

## Annexure-I

Initiatives taken by the Government for the abatement and control of air pollution are as follows.

## Vehicular Emissions

-  BS-IV  standards  adopted  from  1 st April,  2017.  Leapfrogging  from  BS-IV  to  BS-VI fuel standards since 1st April, 2018 in NCT of Delhi, in NCR since October 2019 and by 1st April, 2020 in the rest of the country for both fuel as well as vehicles. About Rs 60000 crore was spent on switching over to BS VI fuels.
-  80% reduction in particulate matter emissions in BS IV heavy duty diesel vehicles with respect to BS III and further 50 % reduction in PM due to BS VI standards with respect to BS IV.
-  Operationalization of Eastern Peripheral Expressway & Western Peripheral Expressway in 2018 at a cost of about Rs 17000 crore to divert non-destined traffic from Delhi. About 60000 vehicles are diverted on these roads daily.
-  Introduction  of  cleaner  /  alternate  fuels  like  gaseous  fuel  (CNG,  LPG  etc.),  ethanol blending in petrol.
-  In Delhi, about 500 new CNG stations have been opened during the last 5 years.
-  Use of RFID tags have been made mandatory for commercial vehicles entering Delhi. This  has  resulted  in  decrease  in  traffic  congestion  at  Toll  collection/Environmental Compensation Charge collection centres.
-  Network of metro has expanded in Delhi NCR with total length of 377 km and 274 stations at a cost of about Rs 70000 crore. It is used by over 30 lakh people every day and due to this about 4 lakh vehicles are avoided on roads, thereby reducing pollution considerably.
-  To promote electric vehicles, Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME -2) scheme has been rolled out with an outlay of Rs 10000 crore for 3 years. DHI has sanctioned 300 buses for Delhi and 100 buses for DMRC under this scheme so far.
-  Permit requirement for electric vehicles has been exempted.
-  Promotion of public transport and improvements in roads and building of more bridges to ease congestion on roads.

## Industrial Emissions

-  Stringent emission norms for Coal based Thermal Power Plants(TPPs).
-  Badarpur thermal power plant has been closed from 15th October, 2018.
-  Pet coke and furnace oil have been banned as fuel in Delhi and NCR States. Import of pet coke to be done by industries using it as a feedstock/in process across the country.
-  Out of about 4700 industrial units in Delhi - NCR, about 2600 units have shifted to PNG.
-  Installation  of  on-line  continuous  (24x7)  monitoring  devices  in  all  red  category industries in Delhi and NCR. 503 industrial units in Delhi- NCR have installed it out of about 599 units.
-  Revision of emission standards for industrial sectors from time to time. SOx and NOx standards for boilers have been introduced.
-  About  2800  brick  kilns  have  been  shifted  to  zig-zag  technology  in  Delhi  and NCR.Only brick kilns with zig zag technology can operate in Delhi and NCR.

## Crop Residue Management

-  In  order to  prevent stubble burning, a new Central Sector Scheme on 'Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab,  Haryana,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  NCT  of  Delhi'  for  the  period  from  2018-19  to
- 2019-20 is being implemented by Ministry of Agriculture  and Farmers' Welfare with the total outgo from the Central funds of Rs. 1151.80 crore (Rs. 591.65 crore in 201819 and Rs. 560.15 crore in 2019-20).
-  The State Governments during 2018-19 have supplied more than 56290 machines to the individual farmers and Custom Hiring Centres on subsidy for in-situ management of  crop  residue.  During  2019-20,  it  has  been  targeted  to  supply  more  than  46578 machines.
-  With the efforts of the Government, overall, about 15% and 41% reduction in burning events  were  observed  in  2018  as  compared  to  that  in  2017  and  2016,  respectively. During 2019-20 season, the total burning events recorded in the three States are 19.2% less  than  in  2018  till  18th  November.  UP  has  recorded  36.8%  reduction,  Haryana recorded 25.1% reduction, and Punjab recorded 16.8% reduction, respectively, in the current season than in 2018.

## Solid Waste

-  Notifications  of  6  waste  management  rules  covering  solid  waste,  plastic  waste,  ewaste, bio-medical waste, C&D waste and hazardous wastes issued in 2016.
-  Ban on burning of biomass/garbage.
-  3  Waste-to-Energy  (W-t-E)  plants  are  currently  operational  in  Delhi  with  a  total capacity of 5100 Tonnes Per Day (TPD) generating 52 MW.
-  A 200 TPD waste to compost plant is also operational in Delhi.
-  Bioremediation and biomining of landfill sites have also been undertaken in Delhi.
-  Number of mechanised road sweeping machines has been increased significantly and presently 60 machines are deployed for cleaning of roads in Delhi.

## Construction and Demolition (C&D) Activities

-  SoPs  and  notification regarding dust mitigation measures  for construction  and demolition activities have been issued.
-  Three C&D waste processing plants with 2650 TPD capacity are operational in Delhi. About 2 lakh ton of end products have been used this year till August.

## Monitoring

-  Notification  of  National  Ambient  Air  Quality  Standards  in  2009  and  launch  of National Air Quality Index in 2015.
-  Ambient air quality is monitored at 793 locations covering 344 cities in 28 States & 7 Union  Territories  (UTs)  across  the  country  under  National  Air  Quality  Monitoring Programme (NAMP). Under NAMP, PM2.5 is monitored at 274 locations  covering 132 cities.
-  Implementation of Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi in October, 2018 in association with Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). The system provides timely alerts to implementing agencies for facilitating proactive actions.

## Technical Interventions

-  Pilot  projects  were  deployed  in  Delhi  for  evaluation  of  air  pollution  mitigation technologies:
-  Ambient air purification through Wind Augmentation and Purification Units (WAYUs) for pollution abatement at traffic intersections and Pariyayantra filtration units on 30 buses was evaluated. Though minimal improvement in ambient air quality was observed, however, WAYU may be explored for providing improved air quality at localised levels.
-  Application of dust suppressant -The effectiveness of the dust suppressant lasted up to 6 hours after which it had to be reapplied. About 30% reduction in dust concentrations
- was observed up to 6 hours. Advisory has been issued to State Boards  to use dust suppressant.
-  Research  projects  are  being  carried  out  by  CPCB  in  collaboration  with  premier institutions like IIT, NEERI, etc. under Environment Protection Charge (EPC) funds.
-  Lack of certification  system  of  ambient  air  quality  monitoring  instruments  in  India was  identified.  A  certification  scheme  has  been  established  in  collaboration  with National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
-  Regular  engagements  with  technical  bodies  and  experts  have  been  undertaken  for knowledge sharing.

*******