Lok Sabha Question No. 20 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-22
Subject: Deaths linked to Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Prof. Sougata Ray, Shri Ramvir Singh Bidhuri

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 20

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2024

## Deaths linked to Pollution

## 20. PROF. SOUGATA RAY: SHRI RAMVIR SINGH BIDHURI:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  noticed  the  study  report  published  in  The  Lancet Planetary Health Journal that 7.2 per cent of all daily deaths in 10 of the largest and  most  polluted  cities  in  India  were  linked  to  PM2.5  levels,  including  Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai,
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the said ten cities in the country;
- (c) the position of Delhi among the most polluted capital cities of the world;
- (d) whether  the  people  in  the  Delhi  are  dying  due  to  pollution,  if  so,  the  average number of people dying in Delhi every year due to pollution; and
- (e) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  check  such  alarming  situation  to  save the lives of common citizen of the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) to (d): There is no conclusive data available to establish a direct correlation of death 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.

The article published in the Lancet Planet Health Journal 'Ambient air pollution and daily mortality in ten cities of India: a casual modelling study' was based on study conducted using  statistical  models  and  cited  its  limitations  that  the  study  was  unable  to  conduct analysis of cause-specific mortality.

Details of annual average  of PM2.5  levels in 10 cities referred in the article (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla and Varanasi) are provided at Annexure-I .

World-wide ranking of cities for pollution levels may not be appropriate due to variation in  monitoring  methods  and  respective  country  specific  national  ambient  air  quality standards.  MoEF&CC  conducts  Swachh  Vayu  Sarvekshan  -  ranking  of  131  cities covered under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) among three groups categorised based on population. Delhi ranked '9' in the group of 47 cities having population more than 10 lakh for taking air quality improvement measures under NCAP.

(e) Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January2019, which is a long-term, time-bound national level strategy for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution. Under NCAP, it has been  envisaged  to  achieve  targets  of  20  to  30%  reduction  in  Particulate  Matter  (PM) concentrations  by  2024  in  131  cities  of  24  States/UTs  with  respect  to  base  year  2017. Subsequently,  the  target  has  been  revised  to  achieve  up  to  40%  reduction  or  achieve National  Ambient  Air  Quality  Standards  (NAAQS)  in  terms  of  PM  concentrations  by 2025-26. Cities are provided with funds to support implementation of City Action Plans for taking measures to improve air quality. All  131 cities/ULBs have prepared the City Action Plans under NCAP.

Under NCAP, an amount of Rs. 19,614.44 crores has been earmarked to 131 cities during the  period  FY  2019-20  till  FY  2025-26  out  of  which  49  Million  Plus  Cities/Urban Agglomerations are funded under XVth Finance Commission air quality grant. So far, an amount of Rs. 11,211.13crores was released to 131 cities to implement City Action Plans in their respective cities.

95 cities out of 131 cities have shown improvement in air quality in terms of annual PM10 concentrations in FY 2023-24 with respect to the baseline of FY 2017-18. 18 cities have met  National  Ambient  Air  Quality  Standards  (NAAQS)  for  PM10  (60  µg/m3)  in  FY 2023-24.

Further,  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  prevention  and  control  of  pollution  are enclosed as Annexure II .

***

Annexure I Details of annual average of PM2.5 levels in 10 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai,  Delhi,  Hyderabad,  Kolkata,  Mumbai,  Pune,  Shimla  and  Varanasi) during 2023

| Ambient Air Quality Data for CY-2023   | Ambient Air Quality Data for CY-2023   | Ambient Air Quality Data for CY-2023   | Ambient Air Quality Data for CY-2023   |
|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                | States                                 | Cities                                 | PM2.5 (in µg/m 3 )                     |
| 1                                      | Gujarat                                | Ahmedabad                              | 49                                     |
| 2                                      | Karnataka                              | Bengaluru                              | 33                                     |
| 3                                      | Tamil Nadu                             | Chennai                                | 28                                     |
| 4                                      | Delhi                                  | Delhi                                  | 105                                    |
| 5                                      | Maharashtra                            | Greater Mumbai                         | 47                                     |
| 6                                      | Telangana                              | Hyderabad                              | 38                                     |
| 7                                      | West Bengal                            | Kolkata                                | 49                                     |
| 8                                      | Maharashtra                            | Pune                                   | 52                                     |
| 9                                      | Himachal Pradesh                       | Shimla                                 | 14                                     |
| 10                                     | Uttar Pradesh                          | Varanasi                               | 27                                     |

Prescribed Annual Standards for PM2.5 = 40µg/m3

## Annexure II

## Details of steps taken by the Government for prevention and control of air pollution

-  Notification of Ambient Air Quality Standards.
-  Implementation of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 131 cities.
-  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.).
-  Promotion of 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  National  Capital Region (NCR).
-  Constitution of Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) etc.
-  Ban on use of pet coke and furnace oil as fuel in NCR States since October 24, 2017 and ban on use of imported pet coke in the country since July 26, 2018, with exception for use in permitted processes.
-  CAQM has issued directions permitting use of PNG or biomass as industrial fuel in NCR except Delhi where only PNG is permitted as industrial fuel. CAQM has also issued directions for co-firing of 5-10% biomass with coal in thermal power plants located within 300 kms of Delhi, and, in captive power plants of industrial units located in NCR.
-  Installation of Vapour Recovery System (VRS) in new and existing petrol pumps selling gasoline >100kl per month in million plus cities and those selling >300kl per month in cities with population between 1 lakh to 1 million.
-  For strengthening monitoring mechanism and effective compliance through selfregulatory  mechanism,  CPCB  directed  all  17  categories  of  highly  polluting industries to install Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS).
-  Installation of OCEMS in red category air polluting industries in Delhi-NCR
-  Shifting of all operational brick kilns to zig-zag technology in Delhi and NCR.