Lok Sabha Question No. 208 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-21
Subject: Green Peace India Report on Pollution
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Jugal Kishore, Shri Satpal Brahamchari

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 208

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2025

## Green Peace India Report on Pollution

## 208. SHRI SATPAL BRAHAMCHARI SHRI JUGAL KISHOR:

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

- (a) whether 12 lakh people die every year due to excessive pollution in the country as per the Green Peace India Report;
- (b) if so, the details of the steps taken/being taken by the Government to curb Particular Matter (PM-10) pollution in the States of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, districtwise;
- (c) whether the Government is formulating any scheme to improve/ change the existing systems for pollution control; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## 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 by 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.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019 with an aim to improve air quality in 130 cities (nonattainment cities and Million Plus Cities) in 24 States/UTs through implementation of National, State and City level clean air action plans. NCAP was launched in 2019 and is operational until FY 2025-26.

Jammu and Srinagar cities in Jammu & Kashmir and Faridabad city in Haryana are covered under NCAP for improvement of air quality. In Haryana, 30 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System  (CAAQMS)  &  4  manual  monitoring  stations  are  operational  whereas  in  Jammu  and

Kashmir 1 CAAQMS & 44 manual stations are operational. All the cities of Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir under NCAP have shown reduction in PM10 levels in 2024-25 with respect to 201718. The details have been provided at Annexure I .

NCAP  is  multi-sectoral  initiative  involving  the  coordinated  efforts  of  the  Central  and  State Governments, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), and other stakeholders. It emphasizes source-specific mitigation measures through city, state, and national-level clean air action plans.

Out of 130 cities, 48 Million-Plus Cities/ Urban Agglomerations are funded under XVth Finance Commission Million Plus City Challenge Fund as an air quality performance grant, and remaining 82 cities are funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC. Performance linked grant of Rs. 13,036.52 crore has been provided to 130 cities for critical gap funding.

Further, an amount of Rs. 151.97 crore has been released to cities of Jammu & Kashmir and Rs. 107.14 crore has been released to Faridabad, Haryana during FY 2019-20 to FY 2025-26 under National Clean Air Programme to implement air quality improvement measures. Steps taken for air  quality  improvement  by Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi NCR including cities of Haryana is placed at Annexure II .

Other  key  measures  taken  by  the  Central  Government  for  air  quality  management  has  been provided at Annexure III.

In addition, funds have been allocated by the Central Pollution Control board (CPCB) for 12 cities of Haryana (Dharuhera, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram, Sonipat, Panipat, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Jind, Narnaul, Karnal, Palwal and Nuh) which are not covered under NCAP. The details are provided at Annexure IV.

The focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities showing reduction  in  PM10  concentration  in  2024-25  with  respect  to  2017-18,  64  cities  have  shown reduction in PM10 levels by more than 20% with respect to base year 2017-18 and 25 of these cities have achieved a reduction of more than 40%. A total of 22 Cities have met NAAQS and have PM10 Concentrations less than 60 µg/m 3 .

***

Annexure-I Improvement in PM10 concentrations of 130 Cities under NCAP in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY

## 2017-18

| State          | Cities    | 2017-2018 Average concentration (F.Y.) of PM 10 (µg/m 3 )   |   2024-25 Average concentration (F.Y.) of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) |   %improvement in 2024-25 w.r.t. FY 2017- 18 |
|----------------|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Jammu& Kashmir | Srinagar  | 132*                                                        |                                                        76 |                                         42.4 |
|                | Jammu     | 157                                                         |                                                       124 |                                         21   |
| Haryana        | Faridabad | 229*                                                        |                                                       147 |                                         35.8 |

## Annexure-II

## Measures taken by Jammu & Kashmir in respect of air quality improvement:

- i. Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (J&KPCCC) has advised the Govt. of J&K on matters concerning the prevention, control or abatement of Air Pollution. The Govt. is also advised w.r.t the suitability of any premises or location of industries which likely to cause Air Pollution.
- ii. Industries are regulated under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and they are required to install Air Pollution Control Devices, which is being monitored by J&KPCC.
- iii. Collaboration with institutes for scientific research relating to Air Pollution is being carried out.
- iv. J&KPCC and Forest Department has signed a MoU with Central University of Jammu for facilitating  the  establishment  of  Himalayan  High  Attitude  Atmospheric  and  Climate Research Station in Patnitop.

## Measures  taken  in  cities  of  Haryana  covered  under  NCR  in  respect  of  air  quality improvement:

- i. Directions  prescribing  measures  for  control  of  pollution  from  various  sources  such  as implementation  of  RECD  system/  dual  fuel  kits  in  DG  sets,  use  of  cleaner  fuels  in industries, shift to EV/ CNG/ BS VI diesel fuel in transport sector, implementation of dust control measures at C&D sites etc., have been issued by CAQM.
- ii. Directions  have  been  issued  by  CAQM  to  Government  of  NCT  of  Delhi  and  State Governments of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for migration of public transport services, especially buses in NCR to cleaner modes. All state govt. bus services between Delhi  and  any  city/town  in  the  states  of  Haryana,  Rajasthan  and  Uttar  Pradesh  to  be operated only through EV /CNG/BS-VI diesel w.e.f. 01.11.2023.
- iii. CAQM has 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.
- iv. Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) in red category air polluting industries in Delhi-NCR have been installed.
- v. Industrial units in Delhi have shifted to PNG/cleaner fuels and, operational units in NCR have shifted to PNG/Biomass.
- vi. Directions have been issued for conversion of brick kilns to zig-zag technology in Delhi and NCR.
- vii. Ban on use of pet coke and furnace oil as fuel in NCR States was issued since October 24, 2017.
- viii. An approved fuel list is in force in Delhi-NCR w.e.f. 01.01.2023. Industries operating on only PNG or biomass are permitted in NCR, except for specific requirement of other fuels by specific industries owing to technical, technological and process requirements.
- ix. Stringent  PM  emission  norms  for  biomass  based  boilers  have  been  prescribed  for compliance in NCR.
- x. Directions issued to DPCC and SPCBs in NCR to enforce installation of anti-smog guns and other dust control measures at C&D sites.
- xi. Directions issued for setting up of a 'Dust Control and Management Cell' by road owning/ maintaining/ construction agencies for monitoring and effective implementation of dust control measures in the NCR.
- xii. Online monitoring mechanism (through web portal) has been introduced for monitoring compliance of dust mitigation measures for construction sites.
- xiii. 40  teams  have  been  deputed  by  CPCB  since  December  2021,  to  assist  CAQM,  for conducting incognito inspections of air polluting industries, C&D sites, DG sets in DelhiNCR to check implementation status of pollution control measures and compliance of other provisions of the Air (P&CP) Act, 1981.

## Annexure III

## Other key measures taken by the Central Government for air quality management

- i. Emission standards  for  more  than  80  industries  have  been  notified  under  Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986
- ii. Leapfrogging to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) fuel emissions norms from since 1 st April, 2018 in NCT of Delhi and from 1 st April 2020 for the rest of the country.
- iii. Vehicle Scrapping  Policy,  Rules for  Registered  Vehicle  Scrapping Facilities  and Automated Testing Station by MoRTH
- iv. Waste management rules for solid waste, plastic waste, hazardous waste, e-waste, battery waste, biomedical waste, 100% ash utilization by Thermal Power Plants
- v. Market-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations introduced for waste categories, viz. plastic packaging, e-waste, battery waste, waste tyres
- vi. 12 identified Single-Use Plastics (SUP) having high littering potential and low utility were banned from 1 st July, 2022
- vii. Mandate for utilization of minimum 5% of crop residue along with coal (pellets/brickettes) in thermal power plants in NCR and adjoining areas
- viii. Categorization of industrial areas as Critically and Severely Polluted Areas (CPAs/SPAs) based on Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI).

Annexure-IV

## Funds allocated to the cities of Haryana by Central Pollution Control Board

|   S. No. | City/Town     |   Fund allocation (Rs. In crore) |
|----------|---------------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | Gurugram      |                             34.9 |
|        2 | Sonipat       |                              9.8 |
|        3 | Panipat       |                              8   |
|        4 | Bahadurgarh   |                              5.8 |
|        5 | Bhiwani       |                              5   |
|        6 | Jind          |                              4.5 |
|        7 | Narnaul       |                              4.5 |
|        8 | Karnal        |                              5.6 |
|        9 | Palwal        |                              4.5 |
|       10 | Nuh           |                              4.5 |
|       11 | Dharuhera     |                              4.5 |
|       12 | Charkhi Dadri |                              4.5 |

***