Lok Sabha Question No. 2630 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-10
Subject: Environment Statistics
Ministry: STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
Asked by: Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2630 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.03.2021

## ENVIRONMENT STATISTICS

## 2630. SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI:

Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  recently  released  any  environment statistics since March 2020 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  measured  any  changes  in  air  pollution during the lockdown period since March, 2020, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of different environment statistics developed and prepared for the National Resource Accounts of India;
- (d) the  details  of  the  situation  of  all  the  States  and  Union  Territories including Delhi in these environment statistics; and
- the  details  of  the  standards  and  norms  laid  down  for  assessing
- (e) National Air Quality in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  OF  THE  MINISTRY  OF STATISTICS  AND  PROGRAMME  IMPLEMENTATION  AND  MINISTER  OF STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  OF  THE  MINISTRY  OF  PLANNING  (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a)  The  Ministry  brings  out  annual  publication  on  Environment  Statistics and Environment Accounting with titles: 'EnviStats India; Vol. I: Environment Statistics' and 'EnviStats India; Vol. II: Environment Accounts' respectively. The 3 rd   issue  of  the  publication  'EnviStats  India; Vol.  II:  Environment  Accounts'  for  the  year  2020  was  released  on  30 th September, 2020.
- (b) Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), as per the mandate under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, collects and disseminates  information  in  respect  of  matters  relating  to  air  pollution. CPCB released 'A report on Impact of lockdown on ambient air quality' in September 2020,  containing  the  analysis  of  the  air  quality  data,  derived from continuous ambient air quality stations for the pre-lockdown period, lockdown  phases-I  and  II,  and  for  corresponding  periods  in  2019.  The highlights of air quality for major cities in India, as presented in the report, are at Annexure - I.
- (c) & (d) Natural  Resource  Accounting  (NRA)  is  an  emerging  discipline and  work  in  the  area  has  been  started  by  MoSPI  as  per  the  accounting system developed by the United Nations. NRA deals with stocks and stock changes  of  natural  assets,  comprising  biological  resources  (produced  or wild),  subsoil  assets,  water  and  land  with  their  aquatic  and  terrestrial ecosystems. The accounts of the following ecosystems  have been compiled by MoSPI.

| Type of account     | Topics covered                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Ecosystem extent    | Change matrix of Land Use - Land Cover (LULC) from 2005-06 to 2011-12 and 2011-12 to 2015-16 Asset Account for Land Use Land Cover (LULC), 2005-06, 2011-12 and 2015-16 Land Degradation Account, 2005-06 and 2015- 16 Wetland Extent Account, 2006-07                                                                   |
| Ecosystem condition | Soil nutrient indices Water quality accounts Forest condition account Cropland condition account                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Ecosystem services  | Crop provisioning services (monetary) Timber provisioning services (monetary) Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) provisioning services (monetary) Carbon retention services provided by forests (physical and monetary) Nature-based tourism (monetary) Soil erosion prevention services provided by croplands (physical) |

| Thematic Accounts                                 | Biodiversity - Extent of protected areas; State-wise Floral and faunal species accounts; Species Richness of IUCN Red List species   |
|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Individual environmental asset accounts (SEEA CF) | Forests - Growing Stocks of Timber and Carbon Water                                                                                  |

Statistics  related  to  these  domains  are  developed  and  collected  by  the different ministries of the Government of India and the State Governments as  per  their  mandate.  The  Ecosystem  Accounts  developed  so  far  do  not have a single indicator which can describe the situation of all the States and Union Territories including Delhi.

- (e)  Central  Pollution  Control  Board  has  notified  the  revised  National Ambient  Air  Quality  Standards  in  Gazette  of  India,  Extra-ordinary  Part-II Section  3,  sub  section  (ii),  dated  Nov  18,  2009.  The  revised  National Ambient Air Quality Standards are annexed as Annexure - II.

## LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2630 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 10.03.2021

Comparative AQI during 25th March to 3rd 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 |
|-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             |                                                                   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 |

## LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2630 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 10.03.2021

## Revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

[NAAQS Notification dated 18 th November, 2009]

|        |                                                      |                       | Concentration in Ambient Air                   | Concentration in Ambient Air                                 | Methods of Measurement                                                                                   |
|--------|------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No. | Pollutants                                           | Time Weighted Average | Industrial, Residential, Rural and other Areas | Ecologically Sensitive Area (notified by Central Government) | Methods of Measurement                                                                                   |
| 1      | Sulphur Dioxide (SO 2 ), µg/m 3                      | Annual*               | 50                                             | 20                                                           | 1. Improved West and Gaeke 2. Ultraviolet Fluorescence                                                   |
| 1      | Sulphur Dioxide (SO 2 ), µg/m 3                      | 24 Hours**            | 80                                             | 80                                                           | 1. Improved West and Gaeke 2. Ultraviolet Fluorescence                                                   |
| 2      | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ), µg/m 3                     | Annual*               | 40                                             | 30                                                           | 1. Modified Jacob &Hochheiser 2. Chemiluminescence                                                       |
| 2      | Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ), µg/m 3                     | 24 Hours**            | 80                                             | 80                                                           | 1. Modified Jacob &Hochheiser 2. Chemiluminescence                                                       |
| 3      | Particulate Matter (Size <10µm) or PM 10 µg/m 3      | Annual*               | 60                                             | 60                                                           | 1. Gravimetric 2. TEOM 3. Beta attenuation                                                               |
| 3      | Particulate Matter (Size <10µm) or PM 10 µg/m 3      | 24 Hours**            | 100                                            | 100                                                          | 1. Gravimetric 2. TEOM 3. Beta attenuation                                                               |
| 4      | Particulate Matter (Size <2.5 µm) or PM 2.5 µg/m 3   | Annual*               | 40                                             | 40                                                           | 1. Gravimetric 2. TEOM 3. Beta attenuation                                                               |
| 4      | Particulate Matter (Size <2.5 µm) or PM 2.5 µg/m 3   | 24 Hours **           | 60                                             | 60                                                           | 1. Gravimetric 2. TEOM 3. Beta attenuation                                                               |
| 5      | Ozone (O 3 ), µg/m 3                                 | 8 hours**             | 100                                            | 100                                                          | 1. UV photometric 2. Chemiluminescence 3. Chemical Method                                                |
| 5      | Ozone (O 3 ), µg/m 3                                 | 1 hours **            | 180                                            | 180                                                          | 1. UV photometric 2. Chemiluminescence 3. Chemical Method                                                |
| 6      | Lead (Pb), µg/m 3                                    | Annual *              | 0.50                                           | 0.50                                                         | 1. AAS/ICP Method after sampling using EPM 2000 or equivalent filter paper 2. ED-XRF using Teflon filter |
| 6      | Lead (Pb), µg/m 3                                    | 24 Hour**             | 1.0                                            | 1.0                                                          | 1. AAS/ICP Method after sampling using EPM 2000 or equivalent filter paper 2. ED-XRF using Teflon filter |
| 7      | Carbon Monoxide (CO), mg/m 3                         | 8 Hours **            | 02                                             | 02                                                           | Non dispersive Infra Red (NDIR) Spectroscopy                                                             |
| 7      | Carbon Monoxide (CO), mg/m 3                         | 1 Hour**              | 04                                             | 04                                                           | Non dispersive Infra Red (NDIR) Spectroscopy                                                             |
| 8      | Ammonia (NH 3 ), µg/m 3                              | Annual*               | 100                                            | 100                                                          | 1. Chemiluminescence 2. Indophernol blue method                                                          |
| 8      | Ammonia (NH 3 ), µg/m 3                              | 24 Hour**             | 400                                            | 400                                                          | 1. Chemiluminescence 2. Indophernol blue method                                                          |
| 9      | Benzene (C 6 H 6 ) , µg/m 3                          | Annual *              | 05                                             | 05                                                           | 1. Gas chromatography based continuous analyzer 2. Adsorption and Desorption followed by GC analysis     |
| 10     | Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP)- particulate phase only, ng/m 3 | Annual*               | 01                                             | 01                                                           | Solvent extraction followed by HPLC/GC analysis                                                          |
| 11     | Arsenic (As), ng/m 3                                 | Annual*               | 06                                             | 06                                                           | AAS/ICP method after sampling on EPM 2000 or equivalent filter paper                                     |
| 12     | Nickel (Ni), ng/m 3                                  | Annual*               | 20                                             | 20                                                           | AAS/ICP method after sampling on EPM 2000 or equivalent filter paper                                     |

NOTE: Whenever and wherever monitoring results on two consecutive days of monitoring exceed the limits specified  above  for  the  respective  category,  it  shall  be  considered  adequate  reason  to  institute  regular  or continuous monitoring and further investigation .