GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 109
TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2015
National Ambient Air Quality Standards
*109. KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV:
SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to
state:
(a) the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) notified by the
Government/Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB);
(b) whether the Government/CPCB monitors and assess the ambient air quality status
across the country and if so, the details thereof including air pollutants which were
found above NAAQS in major cities/towns as per the latest survey;
(c) whether the Government has formulated an action plan/policy that involves effective
coordination with States to bring down the level of air pollutants to permissible limits,
if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(d) the other measures taken by the Government to improve the quality of air by reducing
air pollutants through strict enforcement of regulations on polluters?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST
AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House
***
Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 109 due for reply on
28.07.2015 regarding National Ambient Air Quality Standards' by KUMARI
SUSHMITA DEV and SHRI RAJESH RANJAN, Hon'ble Members of Parliament
(a) The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) notified by the Government are
at Annexure-I.
(b) The ambient air quality is monitored at 593 locations in 249 cities, towns and industrial
areas across 28 States and 5 Union Territories by CPCB in association with the concerned
State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees for UTs for SO2, NO2, and
PM10 under National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP). The data so received under
NAMP for 46 million plus cities has been analysed for 2012, 2013 and 2014. The levels of
NO2 (annual average) exceeded in 9 cities whereas levels of PM10 (annual average) exceeded
the norms in 39 cities during 2014 (Annexure- II).
(c) CPCB identified 17 categories of highly polluting industry for preventing, abating and
controlling air and water pollution at source. Also, 43 critically polluted areas have been
identified across the country for priority action to improve environmental conditions in the
areas in association with State Pollution Control Boards. On line continuous (24x7) emission
and effluent monitoring scheme, as a self regulatory tool for industry, has been launched by
the Government on 30.06.2015 for 17 categories of highly polluting industry.
(d)
The Government has taken several measures to mitigate air pollution which interalia
include:
 Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards 2009, envisaging 12
pollutants;
 Formulation of regulations/statutes including stringent source specific standards
for industries to address the rising levels of air pollution in the country;
 Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality;
 Execution of source apportionment studies in select cities and formulation of
action plans for air quality in cities;
 Implementation of Bharat Stage IV norms in the 63 selected cities and Bharat
Stage III norms in rest of the country;
 Introduction of cleaner/alternate fuel like CNG, LPG etc. and promotion of public
transport network including Metro;
 Creation of infrastructure for industrial pollution control incorporating cleaner
production processes, setting up of common pollution control facilities;
 National Air Quality Index was launched in April, 2015;
 Regular co-ordination meetings are being held at official and ministerial level with
Delhi and other State Governments within the National Capital Regions (NCR);
 Short-term and long-term plans have been formulated to mitigate pollution in
Delhi.
*********
Annexure- I referred in Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 109 due for reply on
28.07.2015 regarding 'National Ambient Air Quality Standards' by KUMARI SUSHMITA
DEV and SHRI RAJESH RANJAN, Hon'ble Members of Parliament
CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
New Delhi the 18th November 2009
In exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (2) (h) of section 16 of the Air
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (Act No. 14 of 1981), and in supersession of
the notification No(s).S.O.384(E), dated 11th April 1994 and S.O.935(E), dated 14th October
1998, the Central Pollution Control Board hereby notify the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards with immediate effect
Pollutant
Sulphur Dioxide
(SO2), µg/m3
Nitrogendioxide
(NO2), µg/m3
Time
Weighted
Average
Annual *
24 Hours
**
Annual *
24 Hours
**
Concentration in
Ambient Air
Industria Ecologically
l,
Sensitive
Resident Area (Notified
ial, Rural
by Central
and
Government)
other
Areas
50
20
80
80
40
80
30
80
Particulate Matter
(Size less than 10µm)
or PM10, µg/m3
Particulate Matter
(Size less than 2.5µm)
or PM2.5, µg/m3
Ozone (O3) , µg/m3
Annual *
24 Hours
**
Annual *
24 Hours
**
8 Hours *
1 Hour **
60
100
60
100
40
60
40
60
100
180
100
180
Lead (Pb) , µg/m3
Annual *
24 Hours
**
0.50
1.0
0.50
1.0
Carbon Monoxide
(CO), mg/m3
Ammonia (NH3), µg/m3
8 Hours **
1 Hour **
Annual *
24 Hours
**
Annual *
02
04
100
400
02
04
100
400
05
05
Benzene (C6H6), µg/m3
Methods of Measurement
-Improved West and Gaeke
Method
-Ultraviolet Fluorescence
-Jacob &Hochheiser
modified (NaOH-NaAsO2)
Method
-Gas Phase
Chemiluminescence
-Gravimetric
-TEOM
-Beta attenuation
-Gravimetric
-TEOM
-Beta attenuation
-UV Photometric
-Chemiluminescence
-Chemical Method
-AAS/ICP Method after
sampling on EPM 2000 or
equivalent filter paper
-ED-XRF using Teflon filter
-Non dispersive Infrared
(NDIR) Spectroscopy
-Chemiluminescence
-Indophenol blue method
-Gas Chromatography
(GC) based continuous
analyzer
-Adsorption and desorption
followed by GC analysis
Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP)
Particulate phase
only, ng/m3
Arsenic (As), ng/m3
Annual *
01
01
-Solvent extraction followed
byHPLC/GC analysis
Annual *
06
06
Nickel (Ni), ng/m3
Annual *
20
20
-AAS/ICP Method after
sampling on EPM 2000 or
equivalent filter paper
-AAS/ICP Method after
sampling on EPM 2000 or
equivalent filter paper
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year at a particular site
taken twice a week 24 hourly at uniform intervals.
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with
98% of the time in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two
consecutive days of monitoring.
NOTE: Whenever and wherever monitoring results on two consecutive days of monitoring
exceed the limits specified above for the respective category, it shall be considered
adequate reason to institute regular or continuous monitoring and further
investigations.
Annexure- II referred in Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 109 due for reply on
28.07.2015 regarding National Ambient Air Quality Standards' by KUMARI SUSHMITA
DEV and SHRI RAJESH RANJAN, Hon'ble Members of Parliament
Air quality status of million plus cities for 2012, 2013 and 2014
(Annual average (µg/m3)
S.
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
City
Agra
Ahmedabad
Allahabad
Amritsar
Aurangabad
Bangalore
(BBMP)
Bhopal
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi (DMC)
Dhanbad
Faridabad
Ghaziabad
Gwalior
Howrah
Hyderabad (GH)
Indore
Jabalpur
Jaipur
Jodhpur
Kalyan
Dombivali
Kanpur
Kolkata
Kota
Lucknow
Ludhiana
Madurai
Meerut
Mumbai
Nagpur
Nashik
Navi Mumbai
Patna
Pimpri
Chinchwad
Pune
Raipur$
Rajkot
Ranchi
Shrinagar
Surat
Thane
State
Uttar Pradesh
Gujarat
Uttar Pradesh
Punjab
Maharashtra
2012
SO2 NO2
5
23
12
24
4
32
15
39
9
32
2013
PM10 SO2 NO2
196*
5
21
83*
12
17
317*
5
29
202* 13
40
80*
10
37
2014
PM10 SO2 NO2
184*
8
12
79*
13
20
235*
4
28
180* 14 42*
84*
12
39
PM10
182*
85*
250*
187*
85*
Karnataka
14
28
121*
13
26
113*
13
30
140*
Madhya Pradesh
Tamilnadu
Tamilnadu
Delhi
Jharkhand
Haryana
Uttar Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
West Bengal
Telangana
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Rajasthan
Rajasthan
3
12
3
5
17
12
30
13
13
4
12
2
9
6
21
21
27
59*
40
38
34
27
40
28
20
24
52*
24
173*
57
68*
237*
178*
184*
248*
329*
186*
79*
143*
75*
187*
189*
3
14
4
4
16
12
26
13
11
5
11
2
7
5
26
22
24
66*
40
26
34
27
45*
24
19
23
40
23
220*
75*
56
221*
151*
196*
285*
197*
187*
90*
156*
69*
160*
176*
2
13
5
5
14
13
26
11
5
11
2
7
7
20
22
25
61*
37
25
39
17
24
20
23
41*
31
156*
59
48
215*
162*
197*
246*
148*
98*
144*
69*
154*
189*
Maharashtra
IA
IA
114*
25
54*
91*
40
77*
141*
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
Punjab
Tamilnadu
Uttar Pradesh
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Bihar
8
12
8
8
11
14
4
5
10
24
17
6
34
70*
32
32
27
30
43*
20
32
27
43*
36
215*
135*
156*
211*
228*
48
129*
117*
103*
95*
120*
166*
7
11
7
8
11
14
5
3
8
28
17
-
31
70*
33
29
26
22
39
13
27
29
44*
-
201*
159*
122*
192*
204*
41
134*
117*
89*
85*
137*
-
5
15
7
8
10
13
8
4
10
25
18
-
37
IA
35
28
26
26
48*
20
25
26
40
-
199*
107*
128*
175*
152*
45
154*
95*
93*
73*
151*
-
Maharashtra
22
47*
89*
20
43*
86*
22
41*
93*
Maharashtra
Chattisgarh
Gujarat
Jharkhand
Jammu &Kashmir
Gujarat
Maharashtra
22
14
13
18
@
16
20
44*
40
17
35
@
26
12
93*
268*
99*
202*
@
97*
72*
20
15
12
19
@
13
17
41*
41*
17
36
@
20
32
88*
305*
87*
177*
@
88*
110*
23
16
13
18
@
15
18
45*
41*
19
37
@
20
60*
92*
329*
82*
197*
@
89*
109*
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
Vadodara
Gujarat
16
33 102* 14
19
89*
15
21
87*
Varanasi
Uttar Pradesh
18
21 138* 19
28 145* 19
32
139*
Vasai-virar
Maharashtra
NA NA
NA
NA NA
NA
NA NA
NA
Vijaywada
Andhra Pradesh
12
13
65*
5
19 104*
5
24
100*
Vishakhapatnam
Andhra Pradesh
6
12
97*
13
18
67*
13
20
64*
(GVMC)
46 cities
16 states 1UT
NB. NA- no monitoring station in the city, @ -monitoring station sanctioned but not yet
operational, ‘-‘ data not received, IA inadequate data, $ -there are three operating station in
Raipur, however during 2013and 2014 only one station is in operation, *Concentration
exceeding NAAQS of 50 µg/m3 for SO2, 40 µg/m3 for NO2, and 60 µg/m3 for PM10 for
Residential/ industrial / other area & 20 µg/m3 for SO2, 30 µg/m3 for NO2, and 60 µg/m3 for
Ecologically sensitive area. The data furnished in the table for year 2014 is as available on
date.
No. of million plus cities (46 cities as per Census 2011)
with
Exceeding / violating
operating
NAAQS
NAMP
Year
stations
SO2
NO2
PM10
2012
44
0
7
42
2013
44
0
8
41
2014
44
0
9
39
***