Lok Sabha Question No. 1113 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-07
Subject: Adverse effects of Air Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shardaben Anilbhai Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1113

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2020

## Adverse effects of Air Pollution

## 1113. SHRIMATI SHARDABEN ANILBHAI PATEL:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  to  assess  the  adverse  effect  of increasing air pollution on the health of people in urban and rural areas of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to improve air quality?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b) Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare along with Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) has published a report in 2017entitled 'India: Health of the Nation's States - The India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative'. The study report provides the distribution of diseases and risk factors across all states of the country from 1990 to 2016. The five leading risk factors for Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2016 includes child and maternal malnutrition, air pollution, dietary risks, high systolic blood pressure, and high fasting plasma glucose.

However,  there  are  no  conclusive  data  available  in  the  country  to  establish  direct correlation of death/disease exclusively due to air pollution.  The air pollution is one of the factors affecting respiratory ailments and associated diseases.  Health effects of air pollution are synergistic manifestation of factors which include food habits, occupational habits, socioeconomic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc., of the individuals.

- (c) The Government has taken several steps to combat air pollution in the country, which inter alia , includes the following:
-  Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
-  Revision of emission standards for industrial sectors from time to time.
-  Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality.
-  Monitoring of ambient air quality at 793 locations covering 344 cities/ towns in 28 States  and  7  Union  Territories  across  the  country  under  National  Air  Quality Monitoring Programme  (NAMP).
-  Introduction of cleaner / alternate fuels like gaseous fuel (CNG, LPG etc.).
-  Launching of National Air Quality index.
-  Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards.
-  Notifications  of  6  waste  management  rules  covering  solid  waste,  plastic  waste,  ewaste,  bio-medical  waste,  construction  &demolition  waste  and  hazardous  wastes issued in 2016.
-  Streamlining the issuance of Pollution Under Control Certificate.
-  Issuance  of  directions  under  Section  18(1)(b)  of  Air  (Prevention  and  Control  of Pollution) Act, 1981 and under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for controlling air pollution.
-  Installation of on-line continuous (24x7) monitoring devices by major industries.
-  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. The plan includes 102 nonattainment cities, across 23 States and Union Territories.
-  Notification of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi and NCR.
-  Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) for air pollution control in Delhi and NCR.
-  Organization of clean air campaigns, etc.

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