Lok Sabha Question No. 5911 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-30
Subject: Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Zia Ur Rehman

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5911

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026

## Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection

## 5911. SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN:

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

- (a) whether the Government has undertaken any study regarding industrial waste management, river pollution and stubble burning impact in Western Uttar Pradesh;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  of  corrective  measures,  monitoring  systems  and  penalties  imposed  to address environmental degradation in the region;
- (c) whether similar environmental compliance issues are being faced in other States; and
- (d) if so, the details of national action plans implemented to ensure sustainable development and environmental protection across the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

## (a) to (d):

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) regulate air and water quality by enactment of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and  Control  of  Pollution) Act,  1981  and  Environment  (Protection) Act,  1986  and  notified different Rules, Regulations based on the said acts to control industrial pollution. As per the provisions  of  these Acts,  all  industrial  units  and  other  establishments  generating  industrial effluents  and/or  emission  are  required  to  comply  with  the  stipulated  standards  before discharging into the environment.

Government  monitors  the  industrial  waste  management  and  river  pollution  in  the  country including  Western  Uttar  Pradesh  through  different  measures  like  consent  mechanism, environmental clearance, stipulating emission standards, by mandating  installation of monitoring  equipment's  and  through  inspections.  Central  Pollution  Control  Board  (CPCB) conducts detailed study for such industrial units and other establishments and on the basis of such studies environmental standard are notified.

CPCB has issued directions to all 17 Categories of Industries, Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs)  and  Common  Facilities  to  install  Online  Continuous  Effluent  Monitoring  System (OCEMS) with real time data connectivity to CPCB/SPCBs for self-monitoring. OCEMS in 1377  industries  and  common  facilities  has  been  installed  and  connected  in  Uttar  Pradesh. OCEMS data is available in public domain and can be accessed at https://rtdms.cpcb.gov.in/data  (for  live  data)  and  https://rtdms.cpcb.gov.in/publicdata  (for historical data).

National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP) is an initiative by CPCB to regularly assess the quality of water bodies across India under which the water quality of rivers, lakes, groundwater, and coastal waters are monitored at various locations. Water Quality for various parameters  is  assessed  as  per  Guidelines  for  Water  Quality  Monitoring,  2017  issued  by MoEF&CC. CPCB at present monitors water quality of aquatic resources in the country in association with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) at 4922 locations including  2265 locations  on Rivers under NWMP which  include monitoring locations at Amroha, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar districts in Western Uttar Pradesh.

Monitoring of STPs is carried out by CPCB for 49 STPs located in 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh. At present, out of 49 STPs, 41 STPs were found operational, having a designed capacity of 1423.09  MLD  which  include  districts  of  western  Uttar  Pradesh  like  Bijnor  (01  STP), Bulandshahr (06 STP), Bareilly (4 STP) and Hapur (02 STP).

Government  of  India  constituted  Commission  for  Air  Quality  Management  in  NCR  and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) in 2021 to coordinate, monitor and take necessary action to control air pollution in Delhi NCR. Crop residue burning has been identified as one of the significant factors in North India, including NCR region of Western Uttar Pradesh, which aggravates the air  quality  index  in  the  region  during winter  season  after harvest  of  the  preceding crop for sowing the next crop. The active fire events due to crop residue burning are monitored using satellite  remote  sensing,  following  the  "Standard  Protocol  for  Estimation  of  Crop  Residue Burning  Fire  Events  using  Satellite  Data  by  Consortium  for  Research  on Agroecosystem Monitoring  and  Modeling  from  Space  (CREAMS)  Laboratory,  Division  of  Agricultural Physics,  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  -  Indian  Agricultural  Research Institute  (IARI),  New  Delhi.  The  said  standard  protocol  was  developed  by  Indian  Space Research Organization (ISRO), and CAQM.

Farmers are facilitated with alternative measures like in-situ crop residue management, ex-situ utilization  of  paddy  straw  in  various  applications.  The  in-situ  crop  residue  management includes in-situ mulching / incorporation of the paddy residue in the field itself through efficient and  affordable  mechanized  means  /  crop  residue  management  machinery.  To  address  air pollution  caused  due  to  paddy  stubble  burning  and  to  subsidize  machinery  required  for management of crop residue, a Central Sector Scheme on Crop Residue Management (CRM) has been implemented by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare w.e.f. 2018-19. Under this Scheme, during the period from 2018-19 to 2025-26 (as on 10.03.2026), Rs. 4237.47 crores have been released, out of which Rs. 868.67 Cr. have been released to Uttar Pradesh.

CPCB  has  framed  Guidelines  for  grant  of  one-time  financial  support  under  Environment Protection Charge funds for establishment of pelletization and Torrefaction plants to promote utilization of paddy straw.

31  Flying  Squads  from  CPCB  have  been  deployed  during  harvesting  season  i.e.  from 01.10.2025  to  30.11.2025  in  identified  hotspot  districts  in  Punjab  and  Haryana  to  closely monitor the actions and coordinate with the concerned authorities / officers at the district level, officers  of  the  Pollution  Control  Boards/CAQM  cell. These  teams  provide  daily  updates, photographic evidence, and compliance status.

To  ensure  sustainable  development  and  environmental  protection  across  the  country  the different initiatives taken by the Government is enclosed at Annexure I.

## Measures  taken  by  the  Government  for  sustainable  development  and  environmental protection across the country

- i. For  rejuvenation  of  polluted  river  stretches,  action  plans  were  prepared  by  River Rejuvenation Committees (RRC's) constituted by the respective State Government/UT Administration, under the overall supervision and coordination of Principal Secretary, Environment  Department  of  the  concerned  State/  Union  Territory.  Progress  of implementation of action plans is reviewed by the RRC's at State Level and by Central Monitoring  Committee  (CMC)  constituted  under  the  Chairmanship  of  Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti at Central Level.
- ii. Measures  such as mandatory installation  of effluent treatment  plants, monitoring  of sewage treatment plants, inspection of grossly polluting industries, online continuous effluent  monitoring  systems,  and  sector-specific  pollution  reduction  charters  have contributed to reduced industrial effluent discharge and pollution load, particularly in major rivers like the Ganga and Yamuna.
- iii. CPCB  has  also  mandated  installation of Online Continuous  Effluent/Emission Monitoring  Systems  (OCEMS)  in  17  categories  of  industries  and  common  waste management/treatment facilities to strengthen environmental surveillance and ensure continuous  compliance  of  environmental  norms.  CPCB  also  carries  out  surprise inspection-cum-monitoring of 17 categories industries and common waste treatment facilities,  which  are  selected  randomly  based  on  SMS  alerts,  generated  through OCEMS, installed in these industries.
- iv. CAQM has issued directions to all the Coal based Thermal Power Plants located within 300 Kms radius of Delhi to co-fire biomass based pellets, torrefied pellets/ briquettes (upto 5-10%) with coal to promote use of biomass. MoEFCC through notification dated 11.07.2023,  as  amended,  notified  Environment  (Utilisation  of  Crop  Residue  by Thermal Power Plants) Rules, 2023 mandating minimum five per cent blend of pellets or briquettes made of crop residue along with coal by the Thermal Power Plants in the NCR  and  Adjoining  Areas,  failing  which  said  Rules  stipulates  certain  amount  of Environmental  Compensation  against  the  Thermal  Power  Plants,  as  per  unit  of electricity generated.
- v. Through  extensive  research,  ICAR  has  developed  Pusa  Decomposer,  a  microbial consortium  of  fungal  species  (in  liquid,  capsule  and  powder  forms)  for  rapid decomposition of paddy straw. Use of this consortium accelerates process of paddy straw decomposition in the field itself in 20-25 days.
- vi. National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)  has been launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019 as a national level strategy with an aim to improve air quality in 130 cities (non-attainment cities and Million Plus Cities) in 24 States by engaging all stakeholders. City Action Plans (CAPs) have been prepared by all 130 cities and being implemented by Urban Local Bodies. The city specific clean air action plans target city specific air polluting sources like Soil &  Road  Dust,  Vehicles,  Domestic  Fuel,  MSW  Burning,  Construction  Material  and Industries. Performance based financial support is being provided to these130 cities for implementation of activities of City Action Plan.
- vii. In addition to this, NCAP  emphasizes  mobilization  of  resources  through the convergence of resources from various Central Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat  Mission  (Urban),  AMRUT,  Smart  City  Mission,  PM  e-Bus  Sewa,  PM  EDRIVE, SATAT, and Nagar Van Yojana, as well as resources from State Govts./ UT administration  and  agencies  like  Municipal  Corporations  and  Urban  Development

authorities. Various Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India provide funding under their Schemes/ Programmes as per their budgets.

- viii. The MoEFCC has launched a number of afforestation schemes/programmes namely, the Green India Mission (GIM), Nagar Van Yojana (NVY), School Nursery Yojana (SNY), the Eco-Development Forces (EDF) scheme, and funds under the Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority  (CAMPA), etc. Additionally, the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign, launched on 5th June 2024, has the objectives of halting and reversing land degradation and preventing desertification, among others. Community-based greening and soil and moisture conservation efforts are encouraged across all States/UTs under these existing schemes. These plantation programmes incorporate the soil & moisture conservation measures.
- ix. Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  notified  regulations  on market based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework in respect of waste categories of plastic packaging waste, battery waste, e-waste, waste tyres, used oil, endof-life vehicles, construction and demolition waste, scrap of non-ferrous metals for the environmentally sound management of wastes and promote circular economy.
- x. Mission  LiFE-  Lifestyle  for  Environment  is  a  global  initiative  launched  by  the Government  in  October,  2022  aimed  at  fostering  sustainable  lifestyles  through mindful and deliberate consumption to protect the environment. It is a citizen-led initiative  that  focuses  on  inspiring  and  enabling  individuals  to  adopt  sustainable lifestyles  through  every  day  voluntary  actions.  It  aims  to  nudge  individuals  and communities to  practice a  lifestyle  that  is  synchronous  with  nature.  The  initiative focuses  on seven core  themes: saving water,  conserving energy, reducing waste, managing e-waste,  eliminating  single-use plastics, promoting sustainable  food systems, and adopting healthy lifestyles.
- xi. In  partnership  with  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy,  the  E-Waste Awareness and Reduction Campaign was organized in 13 cities across Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh engaged 70,000 students in 632 government schools through 65 virtual workshops  and school-based collection  drives, resulting in the safe recycling of 4,950 kg of e-waste.
- xii. MoEF&CC has organized beach cleaning campaigns in collaboration with Coastal State Governments covering more than 80 beaches in the last 3 years to sensitize the coastal communities and beach users. These campaigns have seen active participation from the students of nearby schools and colleges, NCC and NSC cadets, Coast Guard personnel, NGOs/CSOs (Civil Society Organisations) and Public representatives and general public.
- xiii. Parallelly, efforts have been made to conserve wetlands under the Ramsar Convention , with India designating 98 Ramsar sites to protect biodiversity, support migratory birds, and ensure ecological balance. Ramsar site designation also promotes public awareness, environmental education, and community participation through information dissemination, capacity-building programmes, and stakeholder engagement aimed at ensuring the wise and sustainable use of wetlands
- xiv. Ministry of Jal Shakti launched 'Catch the Rain' campaign under Jal Shakti Abhiyan to build nationwide awareness and nurturing collective action on water conservation, strengthening  the  message  that  every  drop  counts.  It  encourages citizens across the country to contribute to the preservation of India's water future through practical measures and community-level engagement. Five focused interventions of the campaign  include (i) water conservation and rainwater

harvesting;  (ii)  identification,  geo-tagging,  and  preparation  of  an  inventory  of  all water bodies, along with scientific planning for water conservation; (iii) setting up Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts; (iv)  concentrated afforestation; and (v) awareness generation.

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