Lok Sabha Question No. 2070 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-09
Subject: Sea Pollution
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: MANOJ RAJORIA, C.S. PUTTARAJU, S.P. MUDDAHANUMEGOWDA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2070 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, March 09, 2016

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES SEA POLLUTION

2070.     DR. MANOJ RAJORIA:

SHRI C.S. PUTTA RAJU:

SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  sea/marine  and  coastal  pollution  is  increasing  and posing threat to people and marine life;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  details  of  the  funds  provided  during  each  of  the  last  three years in this regard, State-wise; and
- (d) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to mitigate sea/marine and coastal pollution?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND

MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

(SHRI Y. S. CHOWDARY)

- (a)&(b)  Recognizing  the  importance  of  monitoring  coastal  pollution  to assess  health  of  marine  life,  the  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  has -term  program  called  'Coastal  Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMAPS)'. Under the COMAPS program,  the  data  on  25  environmental  parameters  including physical, chemical, biological and microbiological characteristics of  water and sediment at selected locations are being collected from  the  coastline  of  the  country,  covering  the  maritime  states and  UTs.  The  parameters  being  monitored  include  dissolved oxygen  (DO),  nutrients,  pH,  Biological  Oxygen  Demand  (BOD), plankton,  benthos  and  pathogenic  bacteria,  at  various  coastal locations Vadinar, Veraval, Hazira, Thane (Mumbai), Worli, Ratnagiri, Malvan, Mandovi, Mangalore, Kochi, Kavaratti, Sandheads,  Hooghly,  Paradip,  Visakhapatnam,  Kakinada,  Ennore (Chennai),  Puducherry,  Tuticorin,  Port  Blair.  The  data  are  being provided to the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) who make use  of  the  data  to  take  remedial  measures.  The  SPCBs  are regulating water pollution under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 including discharge of wastewater to coastal areas. The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forests  and Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  has  laid  down  effluent  standards under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 in order to ensure that the industries comply with the prescribed standards. However, no increase of pollution in the sea coasts of the country has been reported by the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) / Pollution  Control  Committees  (PCCs)  that  has  led  to  threat  to people and marine life.
- (c) The monitoring of coastal pollution is being carried out through a network of national laboratories located in various coastal states. The details of funds released during each of the last three years to  monitor  the  sea/marine  and  coastal  water  quality  are  as follows:

(Rs in lakhs).

| State       |   2012-2013 |   2013-2014 |   2014-2015 |
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| Maharashtra |        0    |       50    |       58.57 |
| Goa         |        0    |       61.24 |        0    |
| Kerala      |        0    |      150    |        0    |
| Odisha      |       40.93 |        0    |       54.75 |
| Tamil Nadu  |        0    |       42.75 |        0    |
| Andaman &   |        9.21 |        0    |       36.75 |
| Total       |       50.14 |      303.99 |      150.07 |

- (d) The  following  steps  have  been  taken  to  prevent  and  mitigate sea/marine and coastal pollution:
-  Control  of  Industrial  pollution  under  the  provisions  of  Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Also Common Effluent Treatment Plants for cluster of Small Scale Industrial units are promoted.
-  Ensuring  pollution  control  compliance  in  17  categories  of highly polluting industries.
-  Urban  centres  discharging  wastewater  in  aquatic  resources and  having  no  treatment  facilities  have  been  identified  and given direction to treat the sewage.
-  With respect to industrial effluents, consent management for compliance of standards is being enforced by SPCBs / PCCs to improve the water quality.
-  The  MoEF&CC has constituted National  &  State  /UT  Coastal Zone Management Authorities under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to ensure monitoring and enforcement of the CRZ notification.
-  The Coastal Aquaculture authority (CAA) has been established under  the  Coastal  Aquaculture  Authority  Act,  2005  with  the objective to regulate coastal aquaculture activities in coastal areas  in  order  to  endure  sustainable  development  without causing damage to the coastal environment.

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