Lok Sabha Question No. 3337 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-09
Subject: Impact of Pollution on Tourism
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3337 ANSWERED ON 09.12.2019

## IMPACT OF POLLUTION ON TOURISM

## 3337. SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  assessment  on  the impact on tourism due to air and water pollution in India;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether it has come  to the notice of the  Government regarding  tourists  facing  health  issues  or  being  adversely affected due to pollution;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  measures  taken  by  the Government in this regard; and
- (e) the  details  of  the  number  of  foreign  tourist  arrivals  and  the foreign  exchange  earned  through  foreign  tourists  during  the last four years, State-wise and year-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a), (b) & (e): Although Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has not assessed the impact of air and water pollution on tourism, from the data given below of Foreign Tourist Arrival (FTA) during the past 4 years, it does not appear that pollution impacted adversely on tourism in the country.

| Year   | Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs)   | Foreign Exchange Earnings(FEEs) (In US$ Billion)   |
|--------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|        | (in Million)                      |                                                    |

|   2015 |   8.03 |   21.013 |
|--------|--------|----------|
|   2016 |   8.8  |   22.923 |
|   2017 |  10.04 |   27.31  |
|   2018 |  10.56 |   28.586 |

The  year  wise  details  of  the  Foreign  Tourist  Arrivals  (FTAs) and the estimated Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism in India are given above. This information is not maintained Statewise. According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), no data is available on health issues faced by tourists due to pollution. However, various measures have been taken by the Government to prevent river pollution and air quality management as at Annexure-I

********

(c) & (d): and Annexure-II.

## ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  AND  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.3337  ANSWERED  ON  09.12.2019  ON IMPACT OF POLLUTION ON TOURISM.

## Measures taken to prevent river pollution include those mentioned below:

- a. Regulation  of industrial pollution  is  implemented  through various provisions of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 under Consent mechanism by the respective State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and Pollution Control Committee (PCC).
- b. CPCB  issued  directions  under  Section  5  of  the  Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 regarding 'Treatment and Utilization of Sewage for Restoration of Water Quality of River' to Municipal Corporations of 46 Metropolitan cities and 20 State Capitals.
- c. CPCB issued  directions  under  Section18  (1)  (b)  of  the  Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 to SPCBs/PCCs regarding treatment & utilization of sewage.
- d. Online  Continuous  Effluent  Monitoring  Systems  (OCEMS)  are installed by the industrial units in the country through directives issued by CPCB for getting real time information on the effluent quality
- e. General  discharge  standards  and  industry  specific  effluent discharge  standards  have  been  notified  under  Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 so as to prevent pollution of the water bodies.
- f. Directions are issued for various industrial sectors to implement  Zero  Liquid  Discharge  for  protection  of  the  water quality of rivers and streams.
7. *********

## ANNEXURE-II

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  AND  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.3337  ANSWERED  ON  09.12.2019  ON IMPACT OF POLLUTION ON TOURISM.

## Measures taken for Air Quality Management include those mentioned below:

1. Stringent BS - IV vehicle norms have been implemented from April 2017. 2. MoEF&CC  vide  its  notification  no.  G.S.R.  96  (E)  dated  29 January, 2018 notified S O2  and NOx standards industrial boilers and G.S.R 263 (E) dated 22 March, 2018 notified S O2  and NOx standards for 05 categories of industries. 3. National Ambient  Air Quality Standards were  notified in November, 2009. CPCB have prescribed 12 parameters, namely, PM10, PM2.5 , SO 2 , NO 2 , CO, NH 3 , Ozone, Lead, Benzene, Benzo-a Pyrene, Arsenic and Nickel. 4. Central  Pollution  Control  Board  along  with  State  Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees are monitoring  ambient  air  quality  at  793  monitoring  stations located  in  344  cities/towns  covering  28  states  and  7  union territories across the country under National Air Quality Monitoring  Programme  (NAMP-Manual).  CPCB  in  association with  SPCBs/PCCs  has  installed  205  Continuous  Ambient  Air Quality  Monitoring  Stations  (CAAQMS)  in  114  cities  in  the country. National  Air  Quality  Index  developed  and  disseminated  for
5. effective communication of air quality status to public.
3. *******