Lok Sabha Question No. 4045 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Loss of Biodiversity
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ramdas Chandrabhanji Tadas

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION N0. 4045

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2021

## Loss of Biodiversity

## 4045. SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

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

- (a)   whether degradation of land, depleting naturalresources and loss of biodiversity are the core issuescaused by environmental pollution;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether increase in construction activities andvehicular traffic have also contributed to rise in pollutionin cities; and
- (d)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  initiatives  takenby  the  Government  to  control  air pollution?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  &  (b)As  per  the  Desertification  and  Land  Degradation  Atlas  of  India,  prepared  by  the Space Applications Centre for the period 2011-2013, 29.32 % of the Total Geographical Area of the country i.e. 96.4 million hectares is undergoing the process of degradation.

(c) and (d) Source apportionment studies conducted by TERI-ARAI in the year 2018 reveals that during summer months, Dust (soil, road, and const.) contribute 42% and 38% to PM10 and  PM2.5  respectively,  and,  during  winter  months,  Dust  (soil,  road,  and  const.)  contribute 25% and 17% to PM10 and PM2.5 respectively. Similarly, during summer months, Transport contributes  15%  and  17%  to  PM10 and  PM2.5 respectively,and,  during  winter  months, Transport contributes 24% and 28% to PM10 and PM2.5 respectively.

Ambient air quality in the country is monitored through a network of manual and continuous ambient  air  quality  monitoring  stations.  The  Ambient  air  quality  trend  of  cities  in  5  years (2015-2019) in respect of parameters SO2, NO2, PM10 and PM2.5  is as follows:

## SO2

-  All cities except one comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of SO2. (Except  in  Dehradun,  as  more  stringent  norms  are  applicable  for  Eco  Sensitive Zones.)
-  All the cities exhibited decreasing trend.

## No2

-  39 cities exhibited decreasing trend, 24 cities showed increasing trend and 231 cities have steady or fluctuating trend.
-  Most of the cities comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of NO2.

## PM10

-  23  cities  show  decreasing  trend;  239  cities  show  a  fluctuating  trend  &  38  cities showed an increasing trend.

## PM2.5

-  11  cities  showed  decreasing  trend;  79  cities  show  a  fluctuating  trend  &  9  cities showed an increasing trend.

Government  of  India  launched  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP),  which  is  very comprehensive plan to tackle air pollution problem across the country in a focussed manner to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 levels by 2024 from 2017 levels. The concerned ministries, State Governments, Research Institutes, Industries, etc. are partner in this effort. Under NCAP, a National Knowledge Network (NKN) has been constituted with a group  of  experts  from  IITs  and  Institutes  of  Repute  as  an  advisory  board  for  providing capacity  building,  State  of  art  technologies,  suggestions,  advisories  regarding  air  pollution mitigation and abatement to CPCB, SPCB and ULBS.

Further,  on  15 th August  2020,  the  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  also  announced  to  improve  air quality in more than 100 cities. Hon'ble Prime Minister has also launched Air Quality Index (AQI)  in  2015,  which  provides  air  pollution  information  and  health  effect  in  simple  form, which can be understood even by common persons. National Air Quality Standards are also based on health consideration.

The  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  to  control  of  air  pollution inter-alia include introduction  of  BS-VI,  expansion  of  Metro,  operationalization  of  Eastern  and  Western peripheral expressways, shifting of industries to PNG, waste processing plants, online round the  clock  monitoring  of  red  category  industries,  etc.  The  details  of  initiatives  taken  by government to combat air pollution is at Annexure.

While the Government is making concerted efforts to control air pollution, the citizens should also extend support for the following activities such as:

-  Renew your Pollution Under Control Certificate timely.
-  Avoid idling of engines.
-  Plan your errands to reduce travel time and trips.
-  Adopt clean modes of transport.
-  Prefer cycles/ e-bikes for short trips.
-  Adopt public transportation wherever feasible.
-  Avoid Congested routes.Segregate household waste
-  Never burn waste
-  Take recyclable waste to collection centres & earn from waste too
-  Compost leaves and garden waste
-  Avoid vigorous sweeping of leaves in gardens/ parks - use wide rakes
-  Dispose e-waste responsibly.
-  Adopt green good deeds and encourage others too.
-  Use public grievance redressal apps to inform air polluting activities to authorities
-  Share about ongoing clean initiatives with others

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ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  &  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4045 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 19.03.2021 REGARDING "LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY" RAISED BY SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

## CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO COMBAT AIR POLLUTION

## i. Vehicular Pollution Control

-  Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI norms for fuel and vehicles since April, 2020.
-  Network of Metro rails for public transport are enhanced and more cities are covered.
-  Development of Expressway  and  Highways  are  also  reducing  the  fuel  consumption and pollution.
-  Introduction of cleaner/alternate fuels like CNG, LPG, ethanol blending in petrol.
-  Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) -2 scheme has been rolled out
-  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.

## ii. Industrial Pollution Control

-  Stringent emission norms for Coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs).
-  Pet coke and furnace oil have been banned as fuel in Delhi and NCR States.
-  Industrial units shifting to PNG.
-  Installation of on-line continuous monitoring devices in highly polluting industries.
-  Shifting of Brick kilns to zig-zag technology for reduction of pollution

## iii. Waste Management

-  Notifications  of  6  waste  management  rules  covering  solid  waste,  plastic  waste,  ewaste, bio-medical waste, C&D waste and hazardous waste.
-  Setting up infrastructure such ass waste processing plants.
-  Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic and e-waste management.
-  Ban on burning of biomass/garbage.

## iv. Crop Residue Management

-  Under 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',  agricultural machines  and  equipment  for  in-situ crop residue management  are  promoted  with  50%  subsidy  to  the  individual  farmers  and  80% subsidy for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres.

## v. Monitoring of Air Quality

-  Expansion of air quality monitoring network under National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP)
-  Implementation of Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi. The system provides alerts for taking timely actions.

## vi. Allocation of funds

-  ₹  336.8  crores  have  been  sanctioned  to  non-attainment  cities  under  NCAP  for  initiating actions  such  as  expansion  of  monitoring  network,  construction  and  demolition  waste management  facilities,  non-motorised  transport  infrastructure,  green  buffers,  mechanical street sweepers, composting units etc.
-  ₹2200 crores have been released in the Budget of FY 2020-21 to tackle the burgeoning problem  of  air  pollution.  Further,  an  amount  of  2,217  crores  has  been  allocated  for  42 urban centres with a million-plus population in this budget for improvement of air quality.
-  Rs.  7365.82  Crores  was  allocated  for  Solid  Waste  Management  under  Urban  Swachh Bharat Mission from 2014-2019.
-  Under Atal Mission for  Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme Rs. 1436 Crore have been allocated for non-motorised urban transport and Rs. 1768 Crores for green spaces and parks for five years from FY2015-16 to FY2019-20.
-  A provision of 1,41,678 crores over a period of 5 years from 2021-2026 has been made for Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 with a focus on air pollution reduction by effectively managing  waste  from  construction-and-demolition  activities  and  bio-remediation  of  all legacy dump sites.
-  ₹ 1726.67 crores have been released for crop residue management in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi, during the year 2018-21.

## vii. Public Participation

-  This Ministry has an ongoing Environment Education, Awareness and among all sections of  the  society,  especially  school  and  college  level  students  and  to  mobilize  people's participation for conservation of environment.
-  The  Green  Good  Deeds  (GGDs),  a  social  movement,  is  one  of  the  components  of  the scheme  aimed  to  inculcate  green  good  habits  and  behaviour  among  all  sections  of  the society to take green social responsibility such as minimizing the use of single-use plastic, celebrating  Green  Diwali,  use  of  public transport,  avoid  personal  car  and  promoting  car pool,  regular  check-ups  to  get  Pollution  Control  Certificate (PUC),  save  electricity,  save water, avoid congested lanes etc. The detailed suggestive list of good deeds is available at http://164.100.160.232/sbhb/GoodDeeds.aspx

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