Lok Sabha Question No. 153 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-18
Subject: Air Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Bhartruhari Mahtab

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 153

TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.07.2022

## Air Pollution

## 153. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

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

- (a) Whether the Government has taken note of recent studies that suggests air pollution in the country is likely to reduce the life expectancy of about 40% of Indians by more than nine years;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of highly polluted and worst affected States/Cities in the country; and
- (d) the necessary concrete steps taken/being taken along with targets set and achieved by the  Government  to  reduce  pollution  particularly  in  the  worst-affected  cities  in  the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

## (a) & (b):

The Government is aware of such studies. However, there is no linear relationship between air pollution and life expectancy as assumed in the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) as reported in the Annual Update Report by The Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago (EPIC) published  in  September  2021.  There  is  no  conclusive  data  available  to  establish  a  direct correlation  of  death  exclusively  due  to  air  pollution.  Air  pollution  is  one  of  the  factors affecting  respiratory  ailments  and  associated  diseases.  Health  is  impacted  by  a  number  of factors  which  include  food  habits,  occupational  habits,  socio-economic  status,  medical history, immunity, heredity, etc., of the individuals apart from the environment.

## (c)&(d):

This Ministry has identified 132 Non-attainment cities (NAC) based on ambient air quality levels exceeding National Ambient  Air  Quality Standards for 05 consecutive years. Government has launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 as a national level strategy  to  reduce  air  pollution  levels  across  the  country.  City  Specific  Clean  Air  Action Plans  have  been  prepared  and  rolled  out  for  implementation  in  132  non-attainment  and million plus cities. List of 132 cities is enclosed as Annexure I. A portal named 'Portal for Regulation of Air Pollution in Non-Attainment Cities' or 'PRANA' has been launched by this Ministry for paperless monitoring of NCAP and for disseminating information about the programme to public.

Further,  several  steps  for  mitigation  of  air  pollution  which  include  introduction  of  BS-VI norms for fuel and vehicles since April, 2020, promotion of E-vehicles, expansion of network of Metro rails for public transport, cleaner fuel such as PNG, stringent emission norms for industries including coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), zig-zag technology for brick kilns, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic and e-waste management, real time monitoring of major industrial sectors, etc. Sector wise measures are enclosed as Annexure II .

***

Annexure I

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) and (d) of Lok Sabha unstarred question No 153 to be answered on 18.07.2022, by Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab

## List of 132 Non-Attainment and Million Plus Cities

| State               |   S. No. | City           |
|---------------------|----------|----------------|
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        1 | Guntur         |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        2 | Kurnool        |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        3 | Nellore        |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        4 | Vijayawada     |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        5 | Vishakhapatnam |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        6 | Anantapur      |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        7 | Chitoor        |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        8 | Eluru          |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |        9 | Kadapa         |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |       10 | Ongole         |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |       11 | Rajahmundry    |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |       12 | Srikakulam     |
| Andhra Pradesh (13) |       13 | Vizianagaram   |
| Assam (05)          |       14 | Guwahati       |
| Assam (05)          |       15 | Nagaon         |
| Assam (05)          |       16 | Nalbari        |
| Assam (05)          |       17 | Sibsagar       |
| Assam (05)          |       18 | Silchar        |
| Bihar (03)          |       19 | Patna          |

| State                |   S. No. | City          |
|----------------------|----------|---------------|
|                      |       20 | Gaya          |
|                      |       21 | Muzaffarpur   |
| Chandigarh (01)      |       22 | Chandigarh    |
| Chhattisgarh (03)    |       23 | Bhilai        |
|                      |       24 | Korba         |
|                      |       25 | Raipur        |
| Delhi (01)           |       26 | Delhi         |
| Gujarat (03)         |       27 | Surat         |
|                      |       28 | Ahmedabad     |
|                      |       29 | Vadodara      |
| Himachal Pradesh (7) |       30 | Baddi         |
|                      |       31 | Damtal        |
|                      |       32 | Kala Amb      |
|                      |       33 | Nalagarh      |
|                      |       34 | Paonta Sahib  |
|                      |       35 | Parwanoo      |
|                      |       36 | Sunder Nagar  |
| Jammu &Kashmir (2)   |       37 | Jammu         |
|                      |       38 | Srinagar      |
| Jharkhand (01)       |       39 | Dhanbad       |
| Karnataka (04)       |       40 | Bangalore     |
|                      |       41 | Devanagere    |
|                      |       42 | Gulburga      |
|                      |       43 | Hubli-Dharwad |
| Madhya Pradesh (06)  |       44 | Bhopal        |
|                      |       45 | Dewas         |
|                      |       46 | Indore        |
|                      |       47 | Sagar         |
|                      |       48 | Ujjain        |

| State            |   S. No. | City          |
|------------------|----------|---------------|
|                  |       49 | Gwalior       |
| Maharashtra (18) |       50 | Akola         |
|                  |       51 | Amravati      |
|                  |       52 | Aurangabad    |
|                  |       53 | Badlapur      |
|                  |       54 | Chandrapur    |
|                  |       55 | Jalgaon       |
|                  |       56 | Jalna         |
|                  |       57 | Kolhapur      |
|                  |       58 | Latur         |
|                  |       59 | Mumbai        |
|                  |       60 | Nagpur        |
|                  |       61 | Nashik        |
|                  |       62 | Navi Mumbai   |
|                  |       63 | Pune          |
|                  |       64 | Sangli        |
|                  |       65 | Solapur       |
|                  |       66 | Ulhasnagar    |
|                  |       67 | Thane         |
| Meghalaya (01)   |       68 | Byrnihat      |
| Nagaland (02)    |       69 | Dimapur       |
|                  |       70 | Kohima        |
| Orissa (07)      |       71 | Angul         |
|                  |       72 | Balasore      |
|                  |       73 | Bhubaneswar   |
|                  |       74 | Cuttack       |
|                  |       75 | Rourkela      |
|                  |       76 | Talcher       |
|                  |       77 | Kalinga Nagar |

| State              |   S. No. | City                |
|--------------------|----------|---------------------|
| Punjab (09)        |       78 | DeraBassi           |
| Punjab (09)        |       79 | Gobindgarh          |
| Punjab (09)        |       80 | Jalandhar           |
| Punjab (09)        |       81 | Khanna              |
| Punjab (09)        |       82 | Ludhiana            |
| Punjab (09)        |       83 | NayaNangal          |
| Punjab (09)        |       84 | Pathankot/Dera Baba |
| Punjab (09)        |       85 | Patiala             |
| Punjab (09)        |       86 | Amritsar            |
| Rajasthan (05)     |       87 | Alwar               |
| Rajasthan (05)     |       88 | Jaipur              |
| Rajasthan (05)     |       89 | Jodhpur             |
| Rajasthan (05)     |       90 | Kota                |
| Rajasthan (05)     |       91 | Udaipur             |
| Tamilnadu(03)      |       92 | Thoothukudi         |
| Tamilnadu(03)      |       93 | Trichy              |
| Tamilnadu(03)      |       94 | Madurai             |
| Telangana (04)     |       95 | Hyderabad           |
| Telangana (04)     |       96 | Nalgonda            |
| Telangana (04)     |       97 | Patancheruvu        |
| Telangana (04)     |       98 | Sangareddy          |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |       99 | Agra                |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      100 | Allahabad           |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      101 | Anpara              |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      102 | Bareily             |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      103 | Firozabad           |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      104 | Gajraula            |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      105 | Ghaziabad           |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |      106 | Jhansi              |

| State                                                                        | S. No.                                                                       | City                                                                         |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                              | 107.                                                                         | Kanpur                                                                       |
|                                                                              | 108.                                                                         | Khurja                                                                       |
|                                                                              | 109.                                                                         | Lucknow                                                                      |
|                                                                              | 110.                                                                         | Moradabad                                                                    |
|                                                                              | 111.                                                                         | Noida                                                                        |
|                                                                              | 112.                                                                         | Raebareli                                                                    |
|                                                                              | 113.                                                                         | Varanasi                                                                     |
|                                                                              | 114.                                                                         | Gorakhpur                                                                    |
| Uttarakhand(03)                                                              | 115.                                                                         | Kashipur                                                                     |
|                                                                              | 116.                                                                         | Rishikesh                                                                    |
|                                                                              | 117.                                                                         | Dehradun                                                                     |
| West Bengal (07)                                                             | 118.                                                                         | Kolkata                                                                      |
|                                                                              | 119.                                                                         | Asansol                                                                      |
|                                                                              | 120.                                                                         | Barrackpore                                                                  |
|                                                                              | 121.                                                                         | Durgapur                                                                     |
|                                                                              | 122.                                                                         | Haldia                                                                       |
|                                                                              | 123.                                                                         | Howrah                                                                       |
|                                                                              | 124.                                                                         | Raniganj                                                                     |
| Million plus cities which are not non-attainment but funded under XV-Finance | Million plus cities which are not non-attainment but funded under XV-Finance | Million plus cities which are not non-attainment but funded under XV-Finance |
| Gujarat (1)                                                                  | 125.                                                                         | Rajkot                                                                       |
| Haryana (1)                                                                  | 126.                                                                         | Faridabad                                                                    |
| Jharkhand (2)                                                                | 127.                                                                         | Jamshedpur                                                                   |
|                                                                              | 128.                                                                         | Ranchi                                                                       |
| Madhya Pradesh (1)                                                           | 129.                                                                         | Jabalpur                                                                     |
| Uttar Pradesh (1)                                                            | 130.                                                                         | Meerut                                                                       |
| Maharashtra (1)                                                              | 131.                                                                         | Vasai-Virar                                                                  |
| Tamilnadu (1)                                                                | 132.                                                                         | Chennai                                                                      |

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (c) and (d) of Lok Sabha unstarred question No 153 to be answered on 18.07.2022, by Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab

## Measures taken by the Government for Air Quality Management

## 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.

## 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.
-  Shifting of industrial units to PNG.
-  Installation of online continuous  emission  monitoring  devices  in  highly  polluting industries.
-  Shifting of Brick kilns to zig-zag technology for reduction of pollution

## Waste Management

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

## 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.
-  Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) has been launched as an initiative to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and make CBG available in the market for use in automotive fuels.

## Monitoring of Ambient Air Quality

-  Expansion of air quality monitoring network of manual as well as continuous monitoring stations under programmes such as National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP).
-  Initiation  of  pilot  projects  to  assess  alternate  ambient  monitoring  technologies  such  as low-cost sensors and satellite-based monitoring.
-  Implementation of Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow. The system provides alerts for taking timely actions