Lok Sabha Question No. 172 (STARRED), answered on 2021-02-12
Subject: Improvement in Air Quality
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Gaurav Gogoi, Rahul Ramesh Shewale

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 172

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.02.2021

## Improvement in Air Quality

## *172 SHRI GAURAV GOGOI: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  identified  any  new  emerging  patterns  for  air  quality improvement/ deterioration in the country;
- (b) whether most cities in the country experienced an improvement in air quality during the initial months of COVID-19 induced lockdown and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  air  quality  is  back  to  pre-COVID  levels  and  gains  achieved  during  the lockdown period have been squandered and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has received suggestions from various quarters on the basis of air quality data collected during the lockdown so as to envisage a policy to monitor air pollution levels and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon; and
- (e) the  other  steps  being  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  that  the improvements in air quality are sustained?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARAS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  172  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON  12.02.2021  REGRADING IMPROVEMENT IN AIR QUALITY RAISED BY SHRI GAURAV GOGOI AND SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

(a) Ambient air quality in the country is monitored under National Ambient Air Quality monitoring  (NAMP) programme through a network of manual and continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations. The Ambient air quality trend of cities in 5 years (2015-2019) is as follows:

SO2

-  All cities except one comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of SO2. (Except  in  Dehradun,  as  more  stringent  norms  are  applicable  for  Eco  Sensitive Zones.)
-  All the cities exhibited decreasing trend.

No2

-  39 cities exhibited decreasing trend, 24 cities showed increasing trend and 231 cities have steady or fluctuating trend.
-  Most of the cities comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of NO2.

PM10

-  23  cities  show  decreasing  trend;  239  cities  show  a  fluctuating  trend  &  38  cities showed an increasing trend.

PM2.5

-  11  cities  showed  decreasing  trend;  79  cities  show  a  fluctuating  trend  &  9  cities showed an increasing trend.

(b) & (c)  It has been reported that COVID-19 related lockdown has resulted in temporary improvement of air quality in many cities due to closure of industries, reduction in number of vehicles plying, lack of construction activities and absence of human activities. The details of the air quality for major cities in India is at Annexure-I .

However, the improvement in air quality due to widespread restrictions on operation of major activities  was  an  extraordinary  situation  and,  once  normality  is  attained,  pollution  levels trend,is observed in business as usual scenario.

(d)  & (e) Government  of  India  launched  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP), which  is  very  comprehensive  plan  to  tackle  air  pollution  problem  across  the  country  in  a focussed manner to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 levels by 2024 from 2017 levels. The concerned ministries, State Governments, Research Institutes, Industries, etc. are  partner  in  this  effort.Under  NCAP,a  National  Knowledge  Network  (NKN)  has  been constituted with a group of experts from IITs and Institutes of Repute as an advisory board for providing  capacity  building,  State  of  art  technologies,  suggestions,  advisories  regarding  air pollution mitigation and abatement to CPCB, SPCB and ULBS.

Further,on 15 th August 2020, the Hon'ble Prime Minister also announced to improve air quality in more than 100 cities. Hon'ble Prime  Minister has also launched Air Quality Index (AQI) in 2015, which provides air pollution information and health effect in simple  form,  which  can  be  understood  even  by  common  persons.  National  Air  Quality Standards are also based on health consideration.

Government  has  taken  several  steps  for  mitigation  of  air  pollution  such  as introduction  of  BS-VI,  expansion  of  Metro,  operationalization  of  Eastern  and  Western peripheral expressways, shifting of industries to PNG, waste processing plants, online round the  clock  monitoring  of  red  category  industries,  etc.  The  details  of  initiatives  taken  by government to combat air pollution is at Annexure -II .

While the Government is making concerted efforts to mitigate air pollution, the citizens should also extend support for the following activities such as:

-  Renew your Pollution Under Control Certificate timely.
-  Avoid idling of engines.
-  Plan your errands to reduce travel time and trips.
-  Adopt clean modes of transport.
-  Prefer cycles/ e-bikes for short trips.
-  Adopt public transportation wherever feasible.
-  Avoid Congested routes.
-  Segregate household waste
-  Never burn waste
-  Take recyclable waste to collection centres & earn from waste too
-  Compost leaves and garden waste
-  Avoid vigorous sweeping of leaves in gardens/ parks - use wide rakes
-  Dispose e-waste responsibly.
-  Adopt green good deeds and encourage others too.
-  Use public grievance redressal apps to inform air polluting activities to authorities
-  Share about ongoing clean initiatives with others

Annexure-I Comparative  AQI  during  25 th March  to  3 rd May  2019  and  2020  (first  two  phases  of lockdown during 2020) for major cities in India

| City name   |   No. Of days in Good- Satisfactory AQI during 25 th March to 3 rd May |   No. Of days in Good- Satisfactory AQI during 25 th March to 3 rd May |
|-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| City name   |                                                                   2019 |                                                                   2020 |
| Delhi       |                                                                      1 |                                                                     22 |
| Faridabad   |                                                                      0 |                                                                     13 |
| Ghaziabad   |                                                                      0 |                                                                     16 |
| Gurugram    |                                                                      2 |                                                                     19 |
| Noida       |                                                                      2 |                                                                     25 |
| Mumbai      |                                                                     34 |                                                                     40 |
| Kolkata     |                                                                     30 |                                                                     31 |
| Bengaluru   |                                                                      5 |                                                                     40 |
| Patna       |                                                                      5 |                                                                     17 |
| Chennai     |                                                                     35 |                                                                     40 |

## Annexure-II CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO COMBAT AIR POLLUTION

Based  on  air  quality  data,  122  non-attainment  cities  (NACs)  have  been  identified  under NCAP  and  City  Specific  Clean  Air  Action  Plans  have  been  prepared  and  approved  for 111NACs. The other measures taken by the Government includes:

## i. 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.

## ii. 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.
-  Industrial units shifting to PNG.
-  Installation of on-line continuous monitoring devices in highly polluting industries.
-  Shifting of Brick kilns to zig-zag technology for reduction of pollution

## iii. Waste Management

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

## iv. 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.

## i. Monitoring of Air Quality

-  Expansion  of  air  quality  monitoring  network  under  National  Air  Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP)
-  Implementation of Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi. The system provides alerts for taking timely actions.

## v. Allocation of funds

-  ₹ 336.8 crores have been sanctioned to non-attainment cities 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.
-  ₹2200 crores have been released in the Budget of FY 2020-21 to tackle the burgeoning problem of air pollution. Further, an amount of 2,217 crores has been  allocated  for  42  urban  centres  with  a  million-plus  population  in  this budget for improvement of air quality.
-  Rs. 7365.82 Crores was allocated for Solid Waste Management under Urban Swachh Bharat Mission from 2014-2019.
-  Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme Rs. 1436 Crore have been allocated for non-motorised urban transport and Rs. 1768 Crores for green spaces and parks for five years from FY201516 to FY2019-20.
-  A provision of 1,41,678 crores over a period of 5 years from 2021-2026 has been  made  for  Urban  Swachh  Bharat  Mission  2.0  with  a  focus  on  air pollution  reduction  by  effectively  managing  waste  from  construction-anddemolition activities and bio-remediation of all legacy dump sites.
-  ₹  1726.67  crores  have  been  released  for  crop  residue  management  in  the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi, during the year 2018-21.

## vi. Public Participation

-  This  Ministry  has  an  ongoing  Environment  Education,  Awareness  and among all sections of the society, especially school and college level students and to mobilize people's participation for conservation of environment.
-  The  Green  Good  Deeds  (GGDs),  a  social  movement,  is  one  of  the components  of  the  scheme  aimed  to  inculcate  green  good  habits  and behaviour among all sections of the society to take green social responsibility such as minimizing the use of single-use plastic, celebrating Green Diwali, use of public transport, avoid personal car and promoting car pool,  regular  check-ups  to  get  Pollution  Control  Certificate (PUC),  save electricity, save water, avoid congested lanes etc. The detailed suggestive list of good deeds is available at http://164.100.160.232/sbhb/GoodDeeds.aspx