Lok Sabha Question No. 112 (STARRED), answered on 2022-07-25
Subject: Impact of Pollution in NCR
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 112

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2022

## Impact of Pollution in NCR

## *112.  SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA:

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

- (a) whether  there has been an increase in the number of respiratory patients due to increasing pollution in the NCT of Delhi;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  number  of  persons  died    due  to  the  respiratory  diseases during the last five years and the current year, State/District-wise/Union Territories-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted any survey during the last five years to ascertain the reasons for increase in the level of pollution during the months of October up to December every year; and
- (d) whether the Government has taken any stringent steps in this regard and if so, the details thereof along with the details of funds allocated and utilized for the said purpose?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

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

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Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (a)  to  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  starred question  No.  112  by  Shri  Sukhbir  Singh  Jaunapuria  regarding  'Impact  of pollution in NCR' due for the reply on 25.07.2022.

## (a) & (b)

There is no conclusive data available to establish a direct correlation of death/disease exclusively with  air  pollution.  Air  pollution  is  one  of  the  many  factors  affecting  respiratory  ailments  and associated  diseases.  Health  is  impacted  by  a  number  of  factors  which  include  food  habits, occupational  habits,  socio-economic  status,  medical  history,  immunity,  heredity,  etc.,  of  the individuals apart from the environment.

Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research  (ICMR)  under  the  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare along  with  Public  Health  Foundation  of  India  (PHFI)  and  Institute  of  Health  Metrics  and Evaluation (IHME) have conducted the study entitled 'India: Health of the Nation's States - The India  State-Level  Disease  Burden  Initiative'  which  was  published  in  2017.  The  study  report provided the distribution of diseases and risk factors across all states of the country from 1990 to 2016.  The  five  leading  risk  factors  identified  for  Disability-Adjusted  Life  Years  (DALYs)  in 2016  include  child  and  maternal  malnutrition,  air  pollution,  dietary  risks,  high  systolic  blood pressure and high fasting plasma glucose.

## (c )  &(d)

The major sources of air pollution in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas which aggravate during the winter  due  to  unfavorable  meteorological  conditions  include  industrial  pollution,  vehicular pollution,  dust  from  construction  and  demolition  activities,  road  and  open  areas  dust,  biomass burning,  municipal  solid  waste  burning,  fires  in  landfills  etc.  Source  apportionment  study  has been carried out for Delhi-NCR by TERI-ARAI, published in the year 2018, which reveals that during winter months, industries contribute 27% and 30% to PM10 and PM2.5, respectively; dust (soil,  road  and  construction  sector)  contributes  25%  and  17%  to  PM10  and  PM2.5,respectively; and transport sector contributes 24% and 28% to PM10 and PM2.5, respectively.

Consistent improvement has been observed in the air quality of Delhi due to various steps that has  being  taken  up  by  the  Government  to  control  air  pollution  from  various  sources  such  as vehicular sector and industrial sector etc. Improvement was noted in the year 2021 in comparison to 2016 with the number of 'Good', 'Satisfactory' and 'Moderate' days increasing to 197 against 108 in 2016, and number of 'Poor', 'Very Poor' and 'Severe' days decreasing to 168 against 246 in 2016.

Further, Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) data for Delhi reveals that annual concentration of Particulate Matter (PM) has declined since 2016. Concentration of PM10 and PM2.5declined by 27% and 22% in 2021 over 2016, respectively.

The Government has taken several steps to address air pollution in Delhi and NCR. These, inter alia ,  include  Introduction  of  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP);Notification  of  Ambient Air Quality Standards; Revision of emission standards for industrial sectors from time to time; Setting  up  of  monitoring  network  for  assessment  of  ambient  air  quality;  Introduction  of cleaner/alternate fuels like gases fuel (CNG, LPG etc.);Ethanol blending; Launching of National Air Quality Index; Leapfrogging  from  BS-IV  to  BS-VI  fuel standards; Notification of Construction  and  Demolition  Waste  Management  Rules;  Banning  of  burning  of  biomass; Streamlining the issuance of Pollution Under Control Certificate;  Issuance of directions under Section 18(1)(b) of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and under Section 5 of Environment  (Protection)  Act,  1986  for controlling air pollution; Installation of on-line continuous  (24X7)  monitoring  devices  by  major  industries;  Notification  of  Graded  Response Action  Plan  for  Delhi  and  NCR;  Constitution  of  Commission  on  Air  QualityManagement  in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) etc.

Under  NCAP, Rs.11.25  cr.,  Rs.1.96  cr.,  and  Rs.  6.67  cr. has  been  released  for  Delhi,  Alwar (Rajasthan), Noida (Uttar Pradesh), respectively for improvement of air quality.

15 th Finance Commission has released an interim grant of Rs. 4400 cr. to 42 Million Plus Urban Agglomerations/cities for Financial Year 2020-21 for taking measures for improving ambient air quality.  Further,  the  15th  Finance  Commission  has  provided  grant  of  Rs.  12,139  cr.  for  FY 2021-22 to 2025-26 to these 42 Million Plus cities for improving their ambient air quality.

Under 15th-FC grant, Rs.136.25 cr., Rs.85.59 cr. and Rs.54.25 cr. to Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Faridabad (Haryana) respectively, has been released for improvement of air quality.

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