Lok Sabha Question No. 1653 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-02
Subject: Impact of Pollution on Tourism
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Lallu Singh, Kotagiri Sridhar, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Adala Prabhakara Reddy, D. M. Kathir Anand, Arun Sao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†1653 ANSWERED ON 02.03.2020

## IMPACT OF POLLUTION ON TOURISM

## †1653. SHRI LALLU SINGH:

SHRI SRIDHAR KOTAGIRI:

SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULU REDDY:

SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

SHRI D.M. KATHIR ANAND:

SHRI ARUN SAO:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  assessment  of  the impact of air and water pollution on tourism;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that the tourists  are  experiencing  health  issues  due  to  pollution  and tourism is adversely affected by it;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  measures  taken  by  the Government in this regard; and
- (e) the details of the inflow of foreign tourists and the amount of foreign exchange earned by it during the last three years?

## 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  3  years,  it  does  not  appear  that  pollution  impacted adversely on tourism in the country.

| Year          | FTA (in Million)   | Estimated Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) (in US$ billion)   |
|---------------|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017          | 10.04              | 27.310                                                        |
| 2018          | 10.56              | 28.586                                                        |
| 2019          | 10.89              | 29.962                                                        |
| (Provisional) | (Provisional)      |                                                               |

The  year  wise  details  of  the  FTAs  and  the  estimated  FEEs from tourism in India are given above. (c) & (d): 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 and Annexure-II. *******

## ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  AND  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†1653 ANSWERED ON 02.03.2020 REGARDING 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.†1653 ANSWERED ON 02.03.2020 REGARDING 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. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change vide its notification no. G.S.R. 96 (E) dated 29 January, 2018 notified SO2 and NOx standards industrial boilers and G.S.R 263 (E) dated 22 March, 2018 notified SO2 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,  SO2,  NO2,  CO,  NH3,  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.
5. National  Air  Quality  Index  developed  and  disseminated  for effective communication of air quality status to public.
6. *******