Lok Sabha Question No. 4481 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-19
Subject: Environmental Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Jai Prakash, Saikia Dilip

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4481

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2019

## Environmental Pollution

## 4481.   SHRI JAI PRAKASH: SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

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

- (a) whether the environmental pollution is posing the biggest threat to human life;
- (b) if  so,  the  steps  taken  and  other  awareness  campaigns  being  organized  to  address  the problem of environmental pollution; and
- (c) the  situation  of  environmental  pollution  in  India  as  compared  to  other  developed countries of the world?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Various Organizations/ Institutes, from time to time, have been publishing estimates of mortality/ morbidity attributable to environmental pollution based on models, simulations and extrapolations.  Air  pollution  is  one  of  the  triggering  factors  for  respiratory  ailments  and associated diseases. However, there are no conclusive data available in the country to establish direct  correlation  of  death/  disease  exclusively  due  to  air  pollution.  Health  effects  of  air pollution  are  synergistic  manifestation  of  factors  which  include  food  habits,  occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc., of the individuals.
- (b) The Central  Government  has  taken  a  number  of  regulatory  measures  for  prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution. These include

## Action Plans for Improvement of Air Quality in Delhi NCR :

- (i) Graded  Response  Action  Plan  (GRAP)  was  notified  on  January  12,  2017,  for prevention,  control  and  abatement  of  air  pollution  in  Delhi  and  NCR.  It  identifies graded  measures  and  implementing  agencies  for  response  to  four  Air  Quality  Index (AQI)  categories,  namely,  Moderate  to  Poor,  Very  Poor,  Severe  and  Severe  +  or Emergency.
- (ii) The  Central  Government  has  notified  a  Comprehensive  Action  Plan  (CAP)  in  2018 identifying timelines and implementing agencies for actions identified for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi and NCR.

## Action Plans for Improvement of Air Quality of Other Cities :

- (i) 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. This is keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.  The  overall  objective  is  to  augment  and  evolve  effective  ambient  air quality monitoring network  across the country besides ensuring  comprehensive management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution and enhancing public awareness and capacity building measures.
- (ii) 102 non-attainment cities have been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 - 2015 and WHO report 2014/2018. A total of 86 city specific action plans have been approved for ground implementation.

## Monitoring

-  Setting  up  of  monitoring  network  for  assessment  of  ambient  air  quality  and  water quality.
-  Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
-  Launch of National Air Quality Index.
-  Implementation of Air  Quality  Early  Warning  System  for Delhi  in  October,  2018  in association with Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

## Transport

-  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.),  ethanol blending.
-  Promotion of public transport and improvements in roads and building of more bridges to ease congestion on roads.
-  Operationalisation of Eastern Peripheral Expressway & Western Peripheral Expressway to divert non-destined traffic from Delhi.
-  Streamlining the issuance of Pollution Under Control Certificate.
-  Environment  Protection  Charges  (EPC)  have  been  imposed  on  diesel  vehicles  with engine capacity of 2000cc and above in Delhi NCR.

## Industry

-  Revision of environmental standards for industrial sectors from time to time.
-  Enforcing of environmental standards through consent mechanism  and regular monitoring.
-  Badarpur thermal power plant has been closed from 15th October, 2018.
-  Notification of stricter emission norms for power plants.
-  All brick kilns have been shifted to zig-zag technology in Delhi and NCR.
-  Issuance of directions to 17 categories of highly polluting industries to install Online Continuous Effluent/Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS)
-  Installation of on-line continuous (24x7) monitoring devices all red category industries in Delhi and NCR.
-  Ban on pet coke and furnace oil - monitoring of use of pet coke in Lime Kilns/Cement Kilns and Calcium Carbide Industry in Delhi and NCR States.

## Biomass and Solid Waste

-  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 and 2019-20 has been launched.
-  Banning of 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).
-  Notifications of 6 waste management rules covering solid waste, plastic waste, e-waste, bio-medical waste, C&D waste and hazardous wastes issued in 2016.

## Dust

-  Notifications  regarding  dust  mitigation  measures  for  construction  and  demolition activities.
-  Number of mechanized road sweeping machines has been increased significantly and presently 60 machines are deployed for cleaning of roads in Delhi.

## Public Outreach

-  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  and  Uttar  Pradesh,  Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi Governments launched Clean Air for Delhi Campaign from 10th - 23rd Feb 2018 and to check air polluting activities pre and post Diwali, a special  campaign  called  'Clean  Air  Campaign'  during  November  01,  2018  to November 10, 2018.
-  Ministry is promoting peoples participation and awareness building among citizens for environmental  conservation  through  Green  Goods  Deeds  that  focus  on  promotion  of cycling,  saving  water  and  electricity,  growing  trees,  proper  maintenance  of  vehicles, following of lane discipline and reducing congestion on roads by car pooling etc.
-  Development of mechanism for redressal of public complaints regarding air pollution issues in Delhi and NCR (through 'Sameer App', 'Emails' (aircomplaints.cpcb@gov.in)  and  'Social  Media  Networks'  (Facebook  and  Twitter), etc.

(c) The  Yale  Center  for  Environmental  Law  &  Policy  (YCELP),  Yale  University  and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission released a report in January, 2018 entitled 'Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2018' which ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across ten issue categories, like air quality, water and sanitation, etc. However, the report has relied on data gathered by NASA satellite in place of actual monitored data.

Analysis  of  ambient  air  quality  data  monitored  in  the  country  under  the  National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) revealed that SO2 levels were within the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in all 50 million plus/ urban agglomerations cities  during  2016-18.  With  respect  to  NO2,  17  cities  showed  an  increasing  trend,  16  cities showed a decreasing concentration, 16 cities showed a fluctuating trend and 1 city revealed steady  concentration.  With  respect  to  PM10,  14  cities  showed  an  increasing  trend,  14  cities showed a decreasing concentration, 22 cities showed a fluctuating trend. With respect to PM2.5, trends are available for 17 cities and out of 17 cities, 08 cities showed an increasing trend, 04 cities showed a decreasing concentration, 05 cities showed a fluctuating trend.

Also, water quality of both surface and ground water is being monitored by the Central Pollution  Control  Board  (CPCB)  along  with  State  Pollution  Control  Boards  (SPCBs)  and Pollution  Control  Committees  (PCCs)  under  the  National  Water  Monitoring  Programme (NWMP). Based on long term monitoring, CPCB has identified 351 polluted river stretches on 323 rivers  for  prioritization  of  pollution  control  measures.  Further,  according  to  analysis  by CPCB, the tributaries of river Ganga have shown improvement in water quality with respect to Dissolved Oxygen (DO) since 2014.

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