Lok Sabha Question No. 831 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-23
Subject: Damage to Environment by Emissions
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Kanakmal Katara, Keshari Devi Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.831

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2021

## Damage to Environment by Emissions

## 831. SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA:

## SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  steps  to  find  out  the  emissions  which  damage environment;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any mechanism has been developed to identify the emissions generated by the oil, coal and other sectors;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the losses caused as a result thereof;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  identified  and  fixed  accountability  of  the  institutions which are spreading pollution; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

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

(a) to (d) For prevention and control of industrial pollution, the Government has taken various steps like notification of industry specific emission and effluent standards under the Environment  (Protection)  Rules,  1986and  their  enforcement  through  consent  mechanism, regular  monitoring,  issuance  of  directions  for    installation  of  online  effluent  and  emission monitoring  systems  for  continuous  check  on  pollution  levels;  categorization  of  industries based on their pollution potential; issuance of various directions under Water (Prevention and Control  of  Pollution)  Act,  1974,  Air  (Prevention  and  Control  of  Pollution)  Act,  1981  and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, etc.

Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change has notified environmental  standards  for  86  categories  of  pollution  sources,  out  of  which  63  are  from industrial sectorsincluding Coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) and oil refineries.Beside, ambient air quality standards and general standards for emission andeffluent for source not covered by sector specific norms have also been notified.

National  Ambient  Air  Quality  Standards  (NAAQS)  notified  in  2009  prescribes concentration limits for 12 parameters, namely, PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, NH3, Ozone,

Lead,  Benzene,  Benzo-a Pyrene,  Arsenic and  Nickel with an adequate  margin of safety to protect public health, vegetation and property.

In  order  to  track  on  levels  of  the  emissions,  CPCB  has  implemented installation of online effluent quality and emission monitoring systems for 17 categories of highly polluting industries.

As per criteria for identifying non-attainment cities based on ambient air quality levels  exceeding  NAAQS,  124  non-attainment  cities  have  identified  during  2015-19    with identified executing agencies and identified timeline .

Central  Pollution  Control  Board  (CPCB)    has    carried  out  source  apportionment studies in six cities (Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai, and Pune)during 2010 and recent  study  conducted  by  TERI  and  ARAI  for  Delhi-NCR  indicate  contribution  to  air pollution  from  sources  such  as  vehicles,  industries,  construction  and  demolition  activities, road dust, biomass burning, etc. Study carried out by CPCB during 2010  indicates that power plants, other industries, DG Sets and vehicles contribute to SO2 emissions and NOx is mainly contributed by man-made sources such as vehicles, industries and other fuel combustions in these six cities. Dust from road dust re-suspension, construction activities and soil has major contribution to PM10 concentrations. The share of the transport sector increases significantly in  PM2.5 (finer  fractions)  concentrations.  Secondary  particulates  formed  due  to  chemical conversion of gaseous pollutants such as SO2 and NOx also contribute significantly to PM2.5 concentrations in different cities.

(e)& (f) Monitoring of emission sources are carried out at regular frequency by Central Pollution Control Board, / State Pollution Control Boards/ Pollution Control Committee   for compliance verification against the stipulated norms. Appropriate action / direction are issued to    non-complying source, based on the finding, within the provision of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, etc.

City Specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared and rolled out for implementation in 124 non-attainment cities with identified executing agencies and implementation  timeline.  Further,  42  Million  plus  Population  Cities  (MPCs)  have  been identified for focused air quality management under 15 th Finance Commission grants. Out of these 42 MPCs, 34 are non-attainment cities. At present city action plans have been rolled out for implementation in all 132 identified cities.

Further, in compliance of NGT order, Environmental Compensation is levied for non-compliances observed during compliance verification /inspection as per the provisions of NGT Act 2010 by CPCB/SPCBs/ PCCs

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