(a) whether the Government has taken steps to find out the emissions which damage environment;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether any mechanism has been developed to identify the emissions generated by the oil, coal and other sectors;
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the losses caused as a result thereof;
(e) whether the Government has identified and fixed accountability of the institutions which are spreading pollution; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a) to (d) For prevention and control of industrial pollution, the Government has taken various steps like notification of industry specific emission and effluent standards under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986and their enforcement through consent mechanism, regular monitoring, issuance of directions for installation of online effluent and emission monitoring systems for continuous check on pollution levels; categorization of industries based on their pollution potential; issuance of various directions under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, etc.
Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change has notified environmental standards for 86 categories of pollution sources, out of which 63 are from industrial sectorsincluding Coal based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) and oil refineries.Beside, ambient air quality standards and general standards for emission andeffluent for source not covered by sector specific norms have also been notified.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) notified in 2009 prescribes concentration limits for 12 parameters, namely, PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, NH3, Ozone, Lead, Benzene, Benzo-a Pyrene, Arsenic and Nickel with an adequate margin of safety to protect public health, vegetation and property.
In order to track on levels of the emissions, CPCB has implemented installation of online effluent quality and emission monitoring systems for 17 categories of highly polluting industries.
As per criteria for identifying non-attainment cities based on ambient air quality levels exceeding NAAQS, 124 non-attainment cities have identified during 2015-19 with identified executing agencies and identified timeline .
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has carried out source apportionment studies in six cities (Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai, and Pune)during 2010 and recent study conducted by TERI and ARAI for Delhi-NCR indicate contribution to air pollution from sources such as vehicles, industries, construction and demolition activities, road dust, biomass burning, etc. Study carried out by CPCB during 2010 indicates that power plants, other industries, DG Sets and vehicles contribute to SO2 emissions and NOx is mainly contributed by man-made sources such as vehicles, industries and other fuel combustions in these six cities. Dust from road dust re-suspension, construction activities and soil has major contribution to PM10 concentrations. The share of the transport sector increases significantly in PM2.5 (finer fractions) concentrations. Secondary particulates formed due to chemical conversion of gaseous pollutants such as SO2 and NOx also contribute significantly to PM2.5 concentrations in different cities.
(e)& (f) Monitoring of emission sources are carried out at regular frequency by Central Pollution Control Board, / State Pollution Control Boards/ Pollution Control Committee for compliance verification against the stipulated norms. Appropriate action / direction are issued to non-complying source, based on the finding, within the provision of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, etc.
City Specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared and rolled out for implementation in 124 non-attainment cities with identified executing agencies and implementation timeline. Further, 42 Million plus Population Cities (MPCs) have been identified for focused air quality management under 15th Finance Commission grants. Out of these 42 MPCs, 34 are non-attainment cities. At present city action plans have been rolled out for implementation in all 132 identified cities.
Further, in compliance of NGT order, Environmental Compensation is levied for non-compliances observed during compliance verification /inspection as per the provisions of NGT Act 2010 by CPCB/SPCBs/ PCCs
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