(a) whether as per the report of ‘Greenpeace India’, Jharia and coal area of Dhanbad are the most polluted cities of the country and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the attention of the Government has been drawn towards respiratory and other health related problems in the largest coal producing areas of Jharkhand;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the manner in which the Government proposes to reduce pollution level in such areas?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a) The government is aware that several private institutions, Non-Governmental Organization and universities are ranking citiesbased on their pollution levels adopting different methodologies, data set and weightages to various parameters. There is however, no established mechanism for ranking the cities in terms of pollution as it requires authentic data and a proper peer review.
(b) to (d) Under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) launched by the government, 102 non-attainment cities have been identified, including Dhanbad, based on ambient air quality.Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board SPCB has prepared a specific Action Plan for improving air quality in Dhanbad and is also conducting a study through National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur to identify sources of pollution. Further, under NCAP an amount of Rs. 10,00,00,000 has been allocated to Dhanbad city for various components that inter-alia includes Installation and commissioning of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), Creating green buffer zone along the roads, Mechanical street sweeper, Water sprinkler,Mobile Enforcement Unit, Public awareness and capacity building activities etc.
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