GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO 2319
ANSWERED ON 31.07.2014
New plan to check air and water pollution
2319 SHRI PARVEZ HASHMI
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be
pleased to state :(a) whether it is a fact that as per the report issued by The Energy and Resources Institute
(TERI) lacs of people die every year owing to polluted air and water too in our country, if
so, the details of the said report;
(b) whether Government is going to implement any new plan to check air and water
pollution; and
(c) the details of the outcome of the schemes being run in this regard?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT,
FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) As per The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Environmental Survey Report,
2014 carried in collaboration with the Department for International Development, United
Kingdom’s International Development Agency, 11214 respondents were interviewed in
eight cities like Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Kanpur, Coimbatore Jamshedpur, Indore and
Guwahati in between December, 2013 to February, 2014. Of these respondents, 43 per
cent were from low-income localities such as slums, 24 per cent were from middle-class
localities and 33 per cent were from high-income localities. The report does not reveal
mortality due to air and water pollution but gives an insight on general effect of pollution
and morbidity.
(b)&(c) For checking level of air pollution, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
initiated a National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) in the year 1984 with 7
stations at Agra and Anpara. The NAMP network was further extended to presently cover
573 operating monitoring stations located in 240 cities / towns in 27 states and 5 union
territories across the country. Under NAMP, three air pollutants viz., Sulphur Dioxide
(SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter with size equal to or less than 10
micron (PM10), are being regularly monitored at all the locations. The plan to check air
quality in the country envisages strengthening of the existing monitoring network to
include 700 stations for monitoring of additional parameters as per the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards, 2009.
In addition to the above, the CPCB has established a network of 2500 Water Quality
Monitoring Stations in 28 States and 6 Union Territories covering 445 Rivers, 154 Lakes,
12 Tanks, 78 Ponds, 41 Creeks/Seawater, 25 Canals, 45 Drains, 10 Water Treatment
Plants and 807 Wells. Among these 2500 stations, 1275 are on rivers, 190 on lakes, 45 on
drains, 41 on canals, 12 on tanks, 41 on creeks/seawater, 79 on ponds, 10 on Water
Treatment Plants and 807 are groundwater stations. The water quality monitoring
indicates that the rivers are polluted in downstream of major urban and industrial centres
due to large scale water abstraction and discharge of untreated / partially treated
wastewater not meeting the desired criteria.
The Government has taken the following steps to effectively implement various Central
schemes with regard to control of air and water pollution in the country:
(i) Support is provided to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the operation of
the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWQMP) and the National Ambient
Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAAQMP).
(ii) Development and notification of standards (effluent / emission) under Environment
(Protection) Act 1986 for various categories of industries to check the industrial
pollution;
(iii) Implementation of Air Pollution Control (APC) system and Effluent Treatment
Plants (ETP) in industrial units through consent management and environmental
clearance system;
(iv) Establishment of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and Treatment
Storage Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) for treating industrial effluents / hazardous waste
collectively;
(v) Strengthening of CPCB and State Pollution Control Board (SPCBs) for effective
monitoring of air and water pollution;
(vi) Introduction of cleaner fuel for control of vehicular pollution as per Auto Fuel
Policy;
(vii) Implementation of Corporate Responsibility for Environment Protection (CREP) in
17 categories of highly polluting;
(viii) Regular monitoring of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) including
effective management of the Ganga river cleaning through the establishment of National
Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
The aforesaid schemes and programmes have helped in containing and combating the air
and water pollution in the country.
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