Lok Sabha Question No. 1893 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-12
Subject: Pollution by Industrial Units
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Krupal Balaji Tumane

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1893

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.02.2021

## Pollution by Industrial Units

## 1893. SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE:

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

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of the non-compliance of several industrial units with the pollution prevention laws;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the incidence of release of industrial effluents into the groundwater have been reported and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  operationalise  a  national  helpline  number  to curb pollution in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)& (b) The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  notified industry  specific  effluent  and  emission  standards  for  various  industries.  Central  Pollution Control Board (CPCB) along with State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) takes necessary actions towards compliance of the prescribed standards.

CPCB has issued directions to 17 categories of highly polluting industries to install Online Continuous Effluent / Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) with Real Time Data Connectivity to CPCB. CPCB carries out  regular inspections of the industries based on exceedance alerts received by SMS of OCEMS and takes action on the defaulter industries.

Total 709 industries have been inspected by CPCB  during the period from October, 2016 to January, 2021.  Out of which, 348 industries were found non-complying. As per the provisions  of  Section  5  of  the  Environment  (Protection)    Act,  1986,  show-cause  notices/ technical  directions  to  163  units  and  closure  directions  to  183  units  were  issued  for  noncompliance.  Out  of  348  units  found  non-complying  during  inspection,  308  units  are complying as on date.

Further,  one  direction  each  to  Assam  and  Maharashtra  SPCB,  was  issued  under section  18(1)(b)  of  the  Water  (Prevention  and  Control  of  Pollution)Act,  1974    and  Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

(c)  to  (e  )  CPCB  under  National  Water  Quality  Monitoring  Programme  (NWMP)  is monitoring water quality of ground water at 1231 locations in the country in association with

SPCBs/ PCCs.  Central Ground Water Authority  also monitors the ground water quality at 15,600 locations in the country. CGWA regulates use of ground water and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) monitors quality and quantity. As per the assessment of CGWA, there are 162 critical/ overexploited areas in parts of National Capital Territory, Delhi; Haryana; Punjab; Andhra Pradesh; Rajasthan; Madhya Pradesh; Gujarat; West Bengal; Uttar Pradesh; Karnataka; Tamil Nadu; Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry and UT of Diu and CGWA is regulating  development  of  ground  water  resources  in  these  areas.  No  incidence  of  direct release/ discharge of effluent into the ground water have been reported.

CPCB has developed 'SAMEER" - a mobile based application.  It is an APP which provides hourly updates on the Air Quality Index (AQI) across 100 cities. Another feature of the application is the AQI Bulletin that gives an average of AQI levels over past 24 hours in all  the  listed  cities.  Public  can  also  post  their  grievances/  complaints  with  pictures  and provide valuable suggestions through the APP.

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