Lok Sabha Question No. 972 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-07
Subject: Increase in Pollution Levels
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ashok Kumar Rawat, Nishikant  Dubey, Gopal Chinayya Shetty, Kani K. Navas, Balubhau (Alias Suresh Narayan) Dhanorkar

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION N0. 972

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2020

## Increase in Pollution Levels

## 972. SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

SHRI K. NAVASKANI:

SHRI BALUBHAU ALIAS SURESH

NARAYAN DHANORKAR:

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

- (a) whether the air pollution levels have been increasing in various cities of the country since past few years;
- (b) if  so,  the  details thereof along with the level of air pollution in various cities of the country during the last five years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  of  the  deteriorating  air  quality  in  various cities including metropolitan cities, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether India is home to 15 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world and if so, the details of such cities along with the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (e) the name of metropolitan cities which are adhering to the basic guidelines to check further deterioration of air pollution; and
- (f) the  details  of  steps  taken  and  action  plan  formulated  by  the  Government  to  check pollution in various cities of the country?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  to  (c)      Central  Pollution  Control  Board  presently  monitors  ambient  air  quality  in  793 locations  covering  344  cities  in  28  States  &  7  Union  Territories  across  the  country under the National  Air  Quality  Monitoring  Programme  (NAMP).    As  per  last  fiveyear ambient air quality data (2014-2018), most of the cities across the country were found complying to National Standards with respect to parameters for SO2 and NO2. However, with respect to PM10,102 non-attainment cities, those having PM10>60µg/m 3 , have been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 - 2015 and WHO report 2014/2018. The list of non-attainment cities is annexed.
- (d)        There is no established mechanism for ranking the cities in terms of pollution .I t  also requires authentic data and proper peer review. The government is aware that several

private institution s and universities are ranking cities adopting different methodologies, different data set and using different weightages to parameters.  The data  used  for  ranking  is  extracted  primarily  from  satellite  imageries,  which  are  not validated by proper ground truthing.

- (e) to (f)  The Central Government launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a longterm, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10  and  PM2.5  concentrations  by  2024  keeping  2017  as  the  base  year  for  the comparison  of  concentration.  Under  NCAP,  102  non-attainment  cities  have  been identified  based  on  ambient  air  quality  data  for  the  period  2011  -  2015  and  WHO report 2014/2018. The city specific Action Plans have been prepared which inter-alia include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc.

Further,the  Central  Government  has  taken  several  measures  for  prevention,  control and  abatement  of  air  pollution  across  the  country  which  inter  alia  includes  issuing stringent  plans  like  Comprehensive  Action  Plan,  Graded  Response  Action  Plan; increasing of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality; Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards since 1st April, 2018 in NCT of Delhi and from by 1st April, 2020 in the rest of the country; Introduction of cleaner / alternate fuels like gaseous fuel (CNG, LPG etc.); ensuring the stricter norms for reducing industrial emissions; notifying  6 waste management rules covering solid waste, plastic waste, ewaste, bio-medical waste, C&D waste and hazardous wastes in 2016 etc.

******

## Annexure

## Non-Attainment cities with respect to Ambient Air Quality India (2011-2015) and WHO report 2014/2018

| Sl. No   | State/UT         |   Cities Sl. No | Cities         |
|----------|------------------|-----------------|----------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |               1 | Guntur         |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |               2 | Kurnool        |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |               3 | Nellore        |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |               4 | Vijaywada      |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |               5 | Vishakhapatnam |
| 2        | Assam            |               6 | Guwahati       |
| 2        | Assam            |               7 | Nagaon         |
| 2        | Assam            |               8 | Nalbari        |
| 2        | Assam            |               9 | Sibsagar       |
| 2        | Assam            |              10 | Silchar        |
| 3        | Chandigarh       |              11 | Chandigarh     |
| 4        | Chattisgarh      |              12 | Bhillai        |
| 4        | Chattisgarh      |              13 | Korba          |
| 4        | Chattisgarh      |              14 | Raipur         |
| 5        | Delhi            |              15 | Delhi          |
| 6        | Gujarat          |              16 | Surat          |
| 6        | Gujarat          |              17 | Ahmedabad      |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              18 | Baddi          |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              19 | Damtal         |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              20 | Kala Amb       |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              21 | Nalagarh       |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              22 | Paonta Sahib   |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              23 | Parwanoo       |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh |              24 | Sunder Nagar   |
| 8        |                  |              25 | Jammu          |
|          | Jammu &Kashmir   |              26 | Srinagar       |
| 9        | Jharkhand        |              27 | Dhanbad        |
| 10       |                  |              28 | Bangalore      |
|          | Karnataka        |              29 | Devanagere     |
|          | Karnataka        |              30 | Gulburga       |
|          | Karnataka        |              31 | Hubli-Dharwad  |
| 11       |                  |              32 | Bhopal         |
|          |                  |              33 | Dewas          |
|          |                  |              34 | Indore         |
|          | Madhya Pradesh   |              35 | Sagar          |
|          |                  |              36 | Ujjain         |
| 12       | Maharashtra      |              38 | Akola          |

| Sl. No   | State/UT   |   Cities Sl. No | Cities              |
|----------|------------|-----------------|---------------------|
|          |            |              39 | Amravati            |
|          |            |              40 | Aurangabad          |
|          |            |              41 | Badlapur            |
|          |            |              42 | Chandrapur          |
|          |            |              43 | Jalgaon             |
|          |            |              44 | Jalna               |
|          |            |              45 | Kolhapur            |
|          |            |              46 | Latur               |
|          |            |              47 | Mumbai              |
|          |            |              48 | Nagpur              |
|          |            |              49 | Nashik              |
|          |            |              50 | Navi Mumbai         |
|          |            |              51 | Pune                |
|          |            |              52 | Sangli              |
|          |            |              53 | Solapur             |
|          |            |              54 | Ulhasnagar          |
| 13       | Meghalaya  |              55 | Byrnihat            |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              56 | Dimapur             |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              57 | Kohima              |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              58 | Angul               |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              59 | Balasore            |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              60 | Bhubneshwar         |
| 15       | Orissa     |              61 | Cuttack             |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              62 | Rourkela            |
| 14       | Nagaland   |              63 | Talcher             |
| 16       | Punjab     |              64 | DeraBassi           |
| 16       | Punjab     |              65 | Gobindgarh          |
| 16       | Punjab     |              66 | Jalandhar           |
| 16       | Punjab     |              67 | Khanna              |
| 16       | Punjab     |              68 | Ludhiana            |
| 16       | Punjab     |              69 | NayaNangal          |
| 16       | Punjab     |              70 | Pathankot/Dera Baba |
| 16       | Punjab     |              71 | Patiala             |
| 16       | Punjab     |              72 | Amritsar            |
| 17       | Rajasthan  |              73 | Alwar               |
| 17       | Rajasthan  |              74 | Jaipur              |
| 17       | Rajasthan  |              75 | Jodhpur             |
| 17       | Rajasthan  |              76 | Kota                |
| 17       | Rajasthan  |              77 | Udaipur             |
| 18       | Tamilnadu  |              78 | Tuticorin           |
| 19       | Telangana  |              79 | Hydrabad            |
| 19       | Telangana  |              80 | Nalgonda            |

| Sl. No   | State/UT      |   Cities Sl. No | Cities      |
|----------|---------------|-----------------|-------------|
|          |               |              81 | Patencheru  |
|          |               |              82 | Agra        |
|          |               |              83 | Allahabad   |
|          |               |              84 | Anpara      |
|          |               |              85 | Bareily     |
|          |               |              86 | Firozabad   |
|          |               |              87 | Gajraula    |
|          |               |              88 | Ghaziabad   |
| 20       | Uttar Pradesh |              89 | Jhansi      |
|          |               |              90 | Kanpur      |
|          |               |              91 | Khurja      |
|          |               |              92 | Lucknow     |
|          |               |              93 | Muradabad   |
|          |               |              94 | Noida       |
|          |               |              95 | Raebareli   |
|          |               |              96 | Varanasi    |
| 21       | Uttarakhand   |              97 | Kashipur    |
|          |               |              98 | Rishikesh   |
| 22       | West Bengal   |              99 | Kolkata     |
|          |               |             100 | Patna       |
| 23       | Bihar         |             101 | Gaya        |
|          |               |             102 | Muzaffarpur |