(a) The “Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021” {No. 29 of 2021} stipulates as under:
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14(1) Any non-compliance or contravention of any provisions of this Act, rules thereunder or any order or direction issued by the Commission, shall be an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend upto five years or with fine which may extend upto one crore rupees or with both:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any farmers for causing air pollution by stubble burning or mismanagement of agricultural residue.
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Therefore, the penalprovisions of the Act does not apply to any farmer for causing air pollution by stubble burning or mismanagement of agricultural residue.
(b) Ambient air quality monitoring network of country presently have 1193 locations (Manual + CAAQM Stations) covering 452 cities in 28 States and 7 UTs. Non-attainment cities have been identified based on ambient air quality levels exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards for 05 consecutive years.
Air Quality Index (AQI) data of most of the States in the country during January to November 2021 reveals that the number of Good, Moderate and Satisfactory days are more than Poor, Very Poor and Severe days. Moreover, out of 165 cities, 67 cities did not have any very poor or severe days during January to November 2021. Distribution on days in various categories of these cities is given at Annexure-I.
(c) The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its order dated 13.01.2020 in Writ Petition (Civil) 13029/1985 had directed for installation of two smog towers. In compliance to the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, two experimental pilot projects of smog tower are operational. The smog tower is intended for localized reduction of PM2.5 and PM10.
(d) The Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has taken up the following matters with all stakeholders including State Governments to improve air quality in NCR and adjoining areas:
1. Industrial Pollution
2. Vehicular Pollution
3. Dust from Construction and Demolition
4. Dust from Road and Open Areas
5. Biomass/Municipal Solid Waste burning/Fires in SLF sites and
6. Stubble Burning
The Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has developed a framework and action plan for effective prevention and control of air pollution in NCR Region and Adjoining Area.Severalsteps takenis given as Annexure-
The Commission have been taken various steps which inter alia include:
(i) Directions to all the concerned agencies to strictly enforce the GRAP measures with immediate effect in Delhi – NCR,
(ii) Constitution of specialized Enforcement Task Force for each of the States/ GNCTD for the respective jurisdiction in NCR to implement, enforce, monitor and report the compliance status of various statutory directions and orders issued by the Commission
(iii) Constitution of inter-departmental inspection teams / flying squads to report to Enforcement Task Force for punitive actions including closure of units /activities which are found grossly violating the standards / norms
(iv) Directions to the concerned States and agencies on steps for effective control of air pollution in the wake of prevailing air quality scenario in Delhi-NCR.
Several directions issued by CAQM is available at https://caqm.nic.in/Index1.aspx?lid=1073&lsid=1070&pid=1062&lev=2&langid=1.
(e)
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has issued guidelines for disposal and utilisation of fly ash for reclamation of low lying Areas and in stowing of abandoned mines/quarries on 28th August, 2019.
Ministry of Power issued guidelines for supply of fly ash to the end users by power plants to increase fly ash utilisation on 22ndSeptember, 2021 and 8thNovember, 2021.
(f)
Eco friendly use of Fly ashhas been stipulated in the Fly ash notification, 1999. Vide Notification dated 22 April, 2021, MoEF&CC has reviewed the existing list and a draft notification including the followings has been issued:
i. Fly ash based products viz. bricks, blocks, tiles, fibre cement sheets, pipes, boards, panels ;
ii. Cement manufacturing, ready mix concrete;
iii. Construction of road and fly over embankment, Ash and Geo-polymer based construction material;
iv. Construction of dam;
v. Filling up of low lying area;
vi. Filling of mine voids;
vii. Manufacturing of sintered/ cold bonded ash aggregate;
viii. Agriculture in a controlled manner based on soil testing;
ix. Construction of shoreline protection structures in coastal districts;
x. Export of ash to other countries;
xi. Any other eco-friendly purpose as notified from time to time.
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