Lok Sabha Question No. 177 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-06
Subject: Impact of Nitrogenous Compounds on Health
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Utkarsh Verma Madhur

## GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE

## LOKSABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 177 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 06 TH DECEMBER, 2024

## IMPACT OF NITROGENOUS COMPOUNDS ON HEALTH

## †*177. SHRI UTKARSH VERMA MADHUR:

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

- (a) whether the presence of Nitrogenous compound in the air affects public health adversely and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether it damages the respiratory system in general and affects the circulatory and immune systems;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to prevent it;
- (d) whether there is any proposal to set up oxygen plant in every district of the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof, district-wise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 177 FOR 06 TH DECEMBER, 2024

(a) & (b) As per the results of multisite study conducted at 5 sites in Delhi by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), there is an increase in wheezing and emergency visits associated with increase in levels of nitrogenous compounds like NO2.

(c) Government has issued Health Advisory on Air Pollution. It has also taken several steps to address air pollution issues which are placed at Annexure 1.

( d) & (e) The Government of India has sanctioned 1561 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants. These include 1225 PSA plants which have been installed and commissioned under PMCARES Fund in the country. Additionally, 336 PSA Plants have been set up by PSUs of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Railways, etc till date. The State/UT-wise details of PSA plants installed by the Government of India, as available across the country, is placed at Annexure 2.

Government of India has taken several steps to address air pollution issues across the country. These include:

##  Measures for control of Thermal Power Plants emissions:

-  MoEF&CC vide S.O. 3305(E) dated 07.12.2015, G.S.R. 243(E) dated 31.03.2021 and G.S.R. 682(E) dated 05.09.2022 notified the emission standards for TPPs with the objectives to introduce new norms for emission of SO2, NOx and Mercury from Thermal Power Plants. The Thermal Power Plants ' emission norms were notified with implementation timeline of 2017 which was further extended. The current timelines for compliance is as below:

|   Sr. No. | Categor y   | Location/Area                                                                         | Timelines for compliance (Non-retiri ng units)   | Last date for retirement of units for exemption from compliance   |
|-----------|-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Categor yA  | With 10 km radius of National Capital Region or cities having million plus population | Upto 31.12.2024                                  | Upto 31.12.2027                                                   |
|         2 | Categor yB  | With 10 km radius of Critically Polluted Areas or Non-attainment cities               | Upto 31.12.2025                                  | Upto 31.12.2027                                                   |
|         3 | Categor yC  | Other than those included in categoryAandB                                            | Upto 31.12.2026                                  | Upto 31.12.2027                                                   |

##  Measures for control of vehicular emissions:

-  BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards since 1st April, 2018 in NCT of Delhi and from 1st April, 2020 for the rest of the country.
-  A reduction of 25-87% in NOx emissions is observed by leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards.
-  Installation of Vapour Recovery System 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 to control vehicular refuelling emissions.
-  Promotion of electric vehicles through Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024, a scheme of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India
-  Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation has been launched as an initiative to set up Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and make it available in the market for use in automotive fuels.
-  Implementation of National Programme for Climate Change and Human Health 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.
-  Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched National Clean Air program in 2019 as a national level strategy to reduce air pollution levels across the country.

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## ANNEXURE 2

|   S. No. | State/UT                    |   No. of PSAplants installed |
|----------|-----------------------------|------------------------------|
|        1 | A&N Island                  |                            3 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh              |                           34 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh           |                           31 |
|        4 | Assam                       |                           54 |
|        5 | Bihar                       |                           79 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                  |                            4 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                |                           58 |
|        8 | Delhi                       |                           43 |
|        9 | DNH + D&D                   |                            4 |
|       10 | Goa                         |                            7 |
|       11 | Gujarat                     |                           72 |
|       12 | Haryana                     |                           46 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh            |                           30 |
|       14 | J&K                         |                           32 |
|       15 | Jharkhand                   |                           53 |
|       16 | Karnataka                   |                           92 |
|       17 | Kerala                      |                           35 |
|       18 | Ladakh                      |                           12 |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                 |                            2 |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh              |                          116 |
|       21 | Maharashtra                 |                           87 |
|       22 | Manipur                     |                           17 |
|       23 | Meghalaya                   |                           15 |
|       24 | Mizoram                     |                           15 |
|       25 | Nagaland                    |                           17 |
|       26 | Odisha                      |                           53 |
|       27 | Puducherry                  |                            8 |
|       28 | Punjab                      |                           45 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                   |                           75 |
|       30 | Sikkim                      |                            5 |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                  |                           86 |
|       32 | Telangana                   |                           54 |
|       33 | Tripura                     |                           14 |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh               |                          169 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand                 |                           29 |
|       36 | West Bengal                 |                           63 |
|       37 | Other Agencies (DRDO, IRCS) |                            2 |