Lok Sabha Question No. 2846 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-21
Subject: Causes of Pollution and Smog
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: P. C. Mohan, Keshari Devi Patel, Kanakmal Katara, Gajendra Singh Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2846

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2022

## CAUSES OF POLLUTION AND SMOG

## 2846.   SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL: SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA: SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH PATEL:

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

- (a) whether the Goverment has done or commissioned any study to identify the reasons for the perennial problem of air pollution and smog in different cities of the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of level (in percentage) contributed by each pollutant category on overall pollution;
- (c) the details of actions being taken by the Government for dealing with this issue along with the reasons for the failure of policy interventions in the past;
- (d) the details of the measures taken by the Government to improve the quality of air in the country, State-wise;
- (e) the  details  of  locations  in  Madhya  Pradesh  where  Air  Quality  Indicators  are  being established;
- (f) whether  any  scheme  is  under  consideration  to  check  air  pollution  in  Khargone Parliamentary Constituency;
- (g) the  details  of  the  stringent  measures  being  taken  against  the  institutions  causing pollution; and
- (h) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  keeping  in  view  the  abnormal  changes  in  the weather?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) & (b):

Under  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP),  source  apportionment  studies  are undertaken  which  provide  data  regarding  local  air  polluting  sources.  So  far,  Source apportionment  studies  have  been  completed  in  37Non-Attainment  Cities  (NACs)  and initiated in 51 NACs.

Major sources of Particulate Matter (PM) are road dust, industries, transport, and biomass burning.  As per recent study of TERI-ARAI, in PM2.5 concentrations, the average share of  the  transport  sector  varies  from  17-28%  in  Delhi;industries  contribute  to  22-30%, while fuel (mainly biomass) burning (in residences and agricultural fields) contributes to 14-15% whereas Dust (soil, road, and construction) has a share of 17-38%. Whereas, in PM10 concentration, the average share of transport sector is 15-24% in Delhi;industries contribute to 22-27%; while fuel (mainly biomass) burning (in residences and agricultural fields)  contributes  to  13-15%  whereas  Dust(soil,  road,  and  construction)  has  a  share  in PM10 concentrations (25-42%).

- (c) & (d)

Government  has  launched  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP)  in  2019  as  a national level strategy to reduce air pollution levels across the country. Several steps are undertaken in the NCAP which interalia include the following:

City  Specific  Clean  Air  Micro  Action  Plans  have  been  prepared  and  rolled  out  for implementation in 132 non-attainment and million-plus cities. These action plans focus on city  specific  short/  medium/  long  term  actions  to  control  air  pollution  from  sources such as vehicular emission, road dust, burning of biomass/ crop/ garbage/ Municipal Solid Waste, landfills, construction activities, industrial emission, etc.

Under NCAP, Centre level Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee has been constituted and periodic review of the implementation  progress  is  conducted.  Also  a  State  Level  Steering  Committee  and Monitoring Committee Chaired by Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Environment Department respectively for periodic review and monitoring of the State level implementation under NCAP. City/ District level Implementation Committee chaired by Municipal  Commissioner/  District  Magistrate  has  also  been  constituted  to  periodically review the status of progress of implementation of actions under NCAP.

Rs. 418.60crore have been sanctioned to non-attainment cities in different States as per Annexure I 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.

In addition, as per the Fifteenth Finance commission (XV-FC) recommendations ₹4400 crores  have  been  released  in  the  Budget  of  FY  2020-21  to  tackle  the  problem  of  air pollution  for  42  urban  centres  with  a  million-plus  population.  Further,  an  amount  of ₹12,139 crores have been allocated for improvement of air quality for the award period FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-2026.

PRANA-Portal  for  Regulation  of  Air-pollution  in  Non-Attainment  citiesa  portal  for monitoring implementation of NCAP has been launched.

Besides  the  above,  Government  has  taken  several  other  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;promotion of 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  at Annexure II.

Further,  the  Government has enacted The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021for constituting the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas for better co-ordination, research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas.

- (e) to (h)

There are16 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (CAAQMS) and 42 Manual monitoring stations in Madhya Pradesh State covering 11 cities / towns. City wise list of monitoring stations is enclosed at Annexure III .The list of cities being provided funds under NCAP and XV-FC grant is as per Annexure IV .  It  may  be  seen  that  Khargone Parliamentary Constituency is not included in the list of cities under NCAP and XV-FC grant.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and SPCB are empowered under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for taking all necessary action for improvement ofcondition of environment. Regular inspections of industries are undertaken by SPCBs/PCCs.  Show-cause  notice  is  issued  to  industries  violating  emissions  norms. Stringent  emissions  norms  are  in  place  for  Coal  based  Thermal  Power  Plants  (TPPs). Installation of online continuous emission monitoring devices in 17 red category highly polluting  industries  has  been  mandated.  Directions  under  Section  31A  of  The  Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 have been issued to 24 States for ground implementation of approved city action plan for 132 non-attainment / million plus cities. In  Delhi-NCR,  direction  has  been  issued  by  CAQM  for  closing  down  air  polluting industries/projects/activities.

***

Annexure-I

State wise details of funds released under NCAP program

| S.No.   | State            |   Amount in Cr. (Rs.) |
|---------|------------------|-----------------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh   |                 23.64 |
| 2       | Assam            |                 12.36 |
| 3       | Bihar            |                 17.2  |
| 4       | Chandigarh       |                 13.28 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh     |                 13.06 |
| 6       | Delhi            |                 11.24 |
| 7       | Gujarat          |                 12    |
| 8       | Himachal Pradesh |                 10.3  |
| 9       | Jammu& Kashmir   |                  8.12 |
| 10      | Jharkhand        |                  6    |
| 11      | Karnataka        |                  7.82 |
| 12      | Madhya Pradesh   |                 22.12 |
| 13      | Maharashtra      |                 63.15 |
| 14      | Meghalaya        |                  3    |
| 15      | Nagaland         |                  6.12 |
| 16      | Odisha           |                 15.87 |
| 17      | Punjab           |                 27.52 |
| 18      | Rajasthan        |                 21.92 |
| 19      | Tamil Nadu       |                  3.06 |
| 20      | Telangana        |                 13.76 |
| 21      | Uttar Pradesh    |                 76.94 |
| 22      | Uttarakhand      |                 11.12 |
| 23      | West Bengal      |                 19    |
|         | Total            |                418.6  |

## Annexure-II

## Measures taken by the Government for Air Quality Management

## Vehicular Emission

-  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.
-  Eastern Peripheral Expressway & Western Peripheral Expressway have been operationalised to divert non destined traffic from Delhi.
-  Ban on 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi NCR.
-  Environment protection charges (EPC) have been imposed on diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000cc and above in Delhi NCR.
-  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 Emission

-  Stringent emission norms for Coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs).
-  Ban on use of pet coke and furnace oil in NCR with restricted use of pet coke in cement plants, lime kilns and calcium carbide manufacturing units.
-  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

## Air Pollution due to dust and burning of waste

-  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/ParaliManagement

-  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.

## Annexure-III

Status of ambient air quality monitoring stations in Madhya Pradesh

| S. No.   | City / town   | Real time station underCAAQMS   | Manual station underNAMP   |
|----------|---------------|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
| 1.       | Amlai         |                                 | 2                          |
| 2.       | Bhopal        | 1                               | 8                          |
| 3.       | Chindwara     |                                 | 2                          |
| 4.       | Damoh         | 1                               |                            |
| 5.       | Dewas         | 1                               | 3                          |
| 6.       | Gwalior       | 2                               | 3                          |
| 7.       | Indore        | 1                               | 3                          |
| 8.       | Jabalpur      | 1                               | 2                          |
| 9.       | Katni         | 1                               | 2                          |
| 10.      | Maihar        | 1                               |                            |
| 11.      | Mandideep     | 1                               |                            |
| 12.      | Nagda         |                                 | 3                          |
| 13.      | Pithampur     | 1                               | 2                          |
| 14.      | Ratlam        | 1                               |                            |
| 15.      | Rewa          |                                 | 1                          |
| 16.      | Sagar         | 1                               | 2                          |
| 17.      | Satna         | 1                               | 2                          |
| 18.      | Singrauli     | 1                               | 3                          |
| 19.      | Ujjain        | 1                               | 4                          |
|          | 19            | 16                              | 42                         |

## 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          |
| Bihar (03)           | 20.     | Gaya           |
| Bihar (03)           | 21.     | Muzaffarpur    |
| Chandigarh (01)      | 22.     | Chandigarh     |
| Chhattisgarh (03)    | 23.     | Bhilai         |
| Chhattisgarh (03)    | 24.     | Korba          |
| Chhattisgarh (03)    | 25.     | Raipur         |
| Delhi (01)           | 26.     | Delhi          |
| Gujarat (03)         | 27.     | Surat          |
| Gujarat (03)         | 28.     | Ahmedabad      |
| Himachal Pradesh (7) | 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          |
| Jammu &Kashmir (2)   | 38.     | Srinagar       |
| Jharkhand (01)       | 39. 40. | Dhanbad        |
| Karnataka (04)       |         | Bangalore      |

| State               |   S.No. | City          |
|---------------------|---------|---------------|
|                     |      41 | Devanagere    |
|                     |      42 | Gulburga      |
|                     |      43 | Hubli-Dharwad |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |      44 | Bhopal        |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |      45 | Dewas         |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |      46 | Indore        |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |      47 | Sagar         |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |      48 | Ujjain        |
| Madhya Pradesh (06) |      49 | Gwalior       |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      50 | Akola         |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      51 | Amravati      |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      52 | Aurangabad    |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      53 | Badlapur      |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      54 | Chandrapur    |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      55 | Jalgaon       |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      56 | Jalna         |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      57 | Kolhapur      |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      58 | Latur         |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      59 | Mumbai        |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      60 | Nagpur        |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      61 | Nashik        |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      62 | Navi Mumbai   |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      63 | Pune          |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      64 | Sangli        |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      65 | Solapur       |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      66 | Ulhasnagar    |
| Maharashtra (18)    |      67 | Thane         |
| Meghalaya (01)      |      68 | Byrnihat      |
| Nagaland (02)       |      69 | Dimapur       |
| Nagaland (02)       |      70 | Kohima        |
| Orissa (07)         |      71 | Angul         |
| Orissa (07)         |      72 | Balasore      |
| Orissa (07)         |      73 | Bhubaneswar   |
| Orissa (07)         |      74 | Cuttack       |
| Orissa (07)         |      75 | Rourkela      |
| Orissa (07)         |      76 | Talcher       |
| Orissa (07)         |      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              |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     107 | Kanpur              |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     108 | Khurja              |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     109 | Lucknow             |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     110 | Moradabad           |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     111 | Noida               |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     112 | Raebareli           |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     113 | Varanasi            |
| Uttar Pradesh (16) |     114 | Gorakhpur           |

| State                                                                                     | S.No.                                                                                     | City                                                                                      |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Uttarakhand(03)                                                                           | 115.                                                                                      | Kashipur                                                                                  |
| Uttarakhand(03)                                                                           | 116.                                                                                      | Rishikesh                                                                                 |
| Uttarakhand(03)                                                                           | 117.                                                                                      | Dehradun                                                                                  |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 118.                                                                                      | Kolkata                                                                                   |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 119.                                                                                      | Asansol                                                                                   |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 120.                                                                                      | Barrackpore                                                                               |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 121.                                                                                      | Durgapur                                                                                  |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 122.                                                                                      | Haldia                                                                                    |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 123.                                                                                      | Howrah                                                                                    |
| West Bengal (07)                                                                          | 124.                                                                                      | Raniganj                                                                                  |
| Million plus cities which are not non-attainment but funded under XV-Financial commission | Million plus cities which are not non-attainment but funded under XV-Financial commission | Million plus cities which are not non-attainment but funded under XV-Financial commission |
| 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                                                                                   |