Lok Sabha Question No. 1611 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-16
Subject: Impact of Air Pollution on Health
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: V. Kalanidhi, Bheemrao Baswanthrao Patil, Parvesh Sahib Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. - 1611 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.12.2022

## IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION ON HEALTH

## 1611.  DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY: SHRI B.B. PATIL: SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH VERMA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has conducted/ proposes to conduct any study to ascertain the  impact/effect  of  air  pollution/smog/Particulate  Matter  (PM)  on  the  health (including  pre-mature  deaths)  of  the  people,  especially  those  residing  across northern India;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the long term steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to mitigate/combat severe health consequences emerging out of such air pollution/smog/PM, State/ UT-wise including the North Chennai Parliamentary Constituency; and
- (c) the details of the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to provide adequate health infrastructure in public hospitals for the people suffering from air pollution/smog/PM, State/UT-wise including North Chennai Parliamentary Constituency?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

## (a) to (c):

Air Pollution is known to be one of the aggravating factors for many respiratory ailments and cardiovascular diseases. Several epidemiological studies have shown an association between particulate air pollution and exacerbations of illness in people with respiratory disease among older people.

ICMR  in  collaboration  with  Public  Health  foundation  of  India  (PHFI)  &  Institute  of Health Matrix and Evaluation (IHME) had conducted a study titled 'The impact of air pollution  on  deaths,  disease  burden  and  life  expectancy  across  the  states  of  India' [available at : http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30261-4].

ICMR  has  also  conducted  a  Delhi  based  multisite  study  to  document  acute  effect  of increase  in  air  pollution  on  respiratory  morbidity  by  analysing  patients  attending Emergency  Rooms  in  5  sites  across  Delhi.  A  total  33213  patients  were  enrolled  and analysed. Analysis suggests that increase in pollution level was associated with increase in number of patients in emergency rooms. Effect was more pronounced in children.

Government  of  India  has  taken  several  steps  to  address  air  pollutions  issues.  These include:

-  Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to safeguard the health of women & children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel - LPG.
-  Swachh  Bharat  Mission  to  clean  up  streets,  roads  and  infrastructure  of  India's cities,  smaller towns, and rural areas. SwachhHawa is an integral component of Swachh Bharat.
-  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.
-  Sustainable  Alternative  towards  Affordable  Transportation  (SATAT)  has  been launched as an initiative to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and make CBG available in the market for use in automotive fuels.
-  MoHFW has launched National Program on Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH)  at  National  Centre  for  disease  Control  (NCDC),  with  objective  to create awareness, capacity building, health sector preparedness and response and partnerships related activities on the climate sensitive health issues in the country since 2019. Now the Programme has expanded in all the State/UTs and activities are conducted in the form of training on Climate Sensitive Diseases, Surveillance on Acute Respiratory Illnesses and Heat related Illnesses, generation  & dissemination of IEC on Air Pollution & Heat and its health impacts on health.
-  A  City  Specific  Clean  Air  Action  Plan  has  been  prepared  and  rolled  out  for implementation  in  131  non-attainment  and  million  plus  cities  by  Ministry  of Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC),  with  a  focus  on  city specific  short/  medium/  long  term  actions  to  control  air  pollution  from  sources such  as  vehicular  emission,  road  dust,  burning  of  biomass/  crop/  garbage/ Municipal Solid Waste, landfills, construction activities, industrial emission, etc. Chennai  city  specific  action  plan  targets  the  sources  like  Vehicles,  Road  dust, Construction and Demolition (C&D) activities, Biomass and garbage burning and Industries.  The  plan  also  focuses  on  Strengthening  of  Ambient  Air  Quality Monitoring stations and Public Awareness among the citizens.

Government  of  India  provides  financial  assistance  to  all  states  under  National  Health Mission for strengthening public health care systems including setting up new hospitals and infrastructure upgradation under various schemes. In addition, Govt of India has also launched  PMABHIM  with  an  aim  to  strengthen  healthcare  infrastructure  across  the country which focuses on the primary, secondary and tertiary care services. State /UTs wise funds released under NHM is annexed in financial year 2021-2022.

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| State/UT wise Central Release under National Health Mission (NHM) during FY 2021-22   | State/UT wise Central Release under National Health Mission (NHM) during FY 2021-22   | State/UT wise Central Release under National Health Mission (NHM) during FY 2021-22   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| No. 1                                                                                 | Andaman &Nicobar Islands                                                              | 43.68                                                                                 |
| 2                                                                                     | Andhra Pradesh                                                                        | 1199.37                                                                               |
| 3                                                                                     | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                     | 188.53                                                                                |
| 4                                                                                     | Assam                                                                                 | 1955.93                                                                               |
| 5                                                                                     | Bihar                                                                                 | 1748.76                                                                               |
| 6                                                                                     | Chandigarh                                                                            | 17.47                                                                                 |
| 7                                                                                     | Chhattisgarh                                                                          | 969.61                                                                                |
| 8                                                                                     | Dadra &Nagar Haveli                                                                   | 38.59                                                                                 |
|                                                                                       | Daman &Diu                                                                            |                                                                                       |
| 9                                                                                     | Delhi                                                                                 | 127.37                                                                                |
| 10                                                                                    | Goa                                                                                   | 26.01                                                                                 |
| 11                                                                                    | Gujarat                                                                               | 1094.48                                                                               |
| 12                                                                                    | Haryana                                                                               | 577.07                                                                                |
| 13                                                                                    | Himachal Pradesh                                                                      | 555.09                                                                                |
| 14                                                                                    | Jammu &Kashmir                                                                        | 459.1                                                                                 |
| 15                                                                                    | Jharkhand                                                                             | 640.18                                                                                |
| 16                                                                                    | Karnataka                                                                             | 1274.71                                                                               |
| 17                                                                                    | Kerala                                                                                | 771.47                                                                                |
| 18                                                                                    | Lakshadweep                                                                           | 8.41                                                                                  |
| 19                                                                                    | Madhya Pradesh                                                                        | 2295.66                                                                               |
| 20                                                                                    | Maharashtra                                                                           | 1769.67                                                                               |
| 21                                                                                    | Manipur                                                                               | 95.59                                                                                 |
| 22                                                                                    | Meghalaya                                                                             | 282.46                                                                                |
| 23                                                                                    | Mizoram                                                                               | 93.82                                                                                 |
| 24                                                                                    | Nagaland                                                                              | 126.66                                                                                |
| 25                                                                                    | Odisha                                                                                | 1263.07                                                                               |
| 26                                                                                    | Puducherry                                                                            | 21.33                                                                                 |
| 27                                                                                    | Punjab                                                                                | 349.21                                                                                |

|   28 | Rajasthan     |   1924.95 |
|------|---------------|-----------|
|   29 | Sikkim        |     51.86 |
|   30 | Tamil Nadu    |   1631.91 |
|   31 | Tripura       |    217.95 |
|   32 | Uttar Pradesh |   3235.46 |
|   33 | Uttarakhand   |    553.47 |
|   34 | West Bengal   |   1654.26 |
|   35 | Telangana     |    725.67 |
|   36 | Ladakh        |     44.79 |