Lok Sabha Question No. 2070 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-13
Subject: Pollution due to NTPC Plants
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ajay Kumar Mandal, Locket Chatterjee, Sunil Kumar Pintu

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

## LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2070

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2023

## Pollution due to NTPC Plants

## 2070. SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL: MS.LOCKET CHATTERJEE: SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU:

Will the MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- a) whether the cities of West Bengal and Bihar are facing the problem of increasing level of pollution, if so, the city-wise details thereof;
- b) the steps taken by the Government to address the said problem in these cities along with the success achieved as a result thereof;
- c) whether  pollution  is  also  increasing  due  to  NTPC  plants  set  up  in  the  sates  of  West Bengal and Bihar, if so, the guidelines/rules issued to these plants to control pollution; and
- d) whether there is any monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance of the said rules if so, the plant- wise details thereof, and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a), (b), (c) &(d): National Clean Air  Programme  (NCAP) has been launched by MoEFCC which is a long-term, time-bound,  national  level  strategy  for  prevention,  control and abatement of air pollution in 131 cities. It envisages to reduce air pollution upto 40% or achieve ambient air quality standard in terms of Particulate Matter (PM10) concentrations by 2025-26 over the baseline of 2019-20.

Ambient  air  quality  data  of  9  cities  of  Bihar  and  West  Bengal  for  Particulate  Matter10 (PM10)concentrations  is  enclosed  at Annexure-I .  5  cities  of  Bihar  and  West  Bengal  have shown improvement air quality in FY 2021-22 with respect to the baseline of 2017.

Amount of Rs.316.73 crore and Rs.777.02 crore have been released to the cities in Bihar and West Bengal since 2019-20 till 2022-23 (5 th March) for implementation of city action plans for taking air quality improvement measures as part of City Action Plans.

Emission and discharge norms for TPPs have been notified under Environment (Protection) Rules,  1986  and  subsequent amendments.  Six  coal  based Thermal  Power  Plants  (TPPs)  in Bihar  and  one  in  West  Bengal  operated  by  NTPC  have  been  provided  timelines  to  meet emission norms for the parameters Particulate Matter (PM), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) as given in the Annexure-II .State Pollution Control Boards monitor the compliance of environmental standards of TPPs through Consent mechanism. Continuous Emission  Monitoring  Systems  (CEMS)  have  been  installed  in  these  TPPs  for  24×7 monitoring  and  online  reporting  of  environmental  parameters.  Physical  inspections  of industries are carried out periodically to check the status of environmental compliance.

***

Annexure-I Ambient Air Quality Data of cities of Bihar & West Bengal for PM10 concentrations

| State       | City         | PM 10 Annual Average Concentration (µg/m 3 )   | PM 10 Annual Average Concentration (µg/m 3 )   |
|-------------|--------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| State       | City         | 2017-18                                        | 2021-22                                        |
| Bihar       | Gaya         | 79                                             | 97                                             |
| Bihar       | Muzaffarpur  | 147                                            | 153                                            |
| Bihar       | Patna        | 172                                            | 145                                            |
| West Bengal | Asansol U.A. | 147                                            | 112                                            |
| West Bengal | Kolkata U.A. | 147                                            | 105                                            |
| West Bengal | Barrackpore  | 86                                             | 85                                             |
| West Bengal | Howrah       | 139                                            | 125                                            |
| West Bengal | Durgapur     | 150                                            | 168                                            |
| West Bengal | Haldia       | 92                                             | 94                                             |

## Details of NTPC Plants in Bihar and West Bengal and their timelines to meet the new emission norms

| Sl. No.   | Thermal Power Plant       | State       | Capacity (MW)   | Category   | Timelines to meet new emission norms   | Timelines to meet new emission norms   |
|-----------|---------------------------|-------------|-----------------|------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.   | Thermal Power Plant       | State       | Capacity (MW)   | Category   | PM and NOx                             | SO 2                                   |
| 1.        | Muzaffarpur TPS, KBUNL    | Bihar       | 390             | B          | 31.12.2023                             | 31.12.2025                             |
| 2.        | Kahalgaon STPS            | Bihar       | 2340            | C          | 31.12.2024                             | 31.12.2026                             |
| 3.        | Barh STPS                 | Bihar       | 1980            | C          | 31.12.2024                             | 31.12.2026                             |
| 4.        | Nabi Nagar TPP, BRBCL     | Bihar       | 1000            | C          | 31.12.2024                             | 31.12.2026                             |
| 5.        | New Nabi Nagar TPP, NPGCL | Bihar       | 1320            | C          | 31.12.2024                             | 31.12.2026                             |
| 6.        | Barauni TPS               | Bihar       | 710             | C          | 31.12.2024                             | 31.12.2026                             |
| 7.        | Farakka STPS              | West Bengal | 2100            | C          | 31.12.2024                             | 31.12.2026                             |

## Annexure-II