ENVIRONMENT
2. Environmental pollution
AIR POLLUTION
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) global air pollution database, India has 14 out of the 15 most
polluted cities in the world in terms of PM 2.5 concentrations.
India ranks 178 out of 180 countries in Environmental Performance Index, 2018 in terms of air quality. Its
overall low ranking was linked to poor performance in the environment health policy and deaths due to air
pollution categories
Major Causes of Air Pollution
Emissions from burning of fossil fuels which include vehicular emissons, industrial emissions, emissions
from petroleum refineries and power plants.
Emissions from stubble burning- in agriculture, increases air pollution in Delhi and NCR area.
Release of dust and chemicals- from mining operations.
Other Causes- Dust Storm, Forest Fires, Deforestation, Landfills, Electronic Waste etc.
Effects of Air Pollution
Impact on Health- A recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that life
expectancy in India has gone down by 2.6 years due to deadly diseases caused by air pollution.
Impact on Economy- Financial cost from pollution-related death, sickness and welfare is about 6.2% of the
global economy.
Climate Change- which include global warming, acid rain, depletion of ozone layer Impact on Wildlife- Toxic
chemicals present in the air can force wildlife species to move to new place and change their habitat.
STEPS TAKEN BY GOVT
Carbon Emission by Thermal Power Plants (TPPs): Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
had notified environmental norms in December 2015 and direct them to reduce emission of PM 10, SO2 and
oxide of nitrogen.
Clean Air- India Initiative: to curb air pollution in Indian cities by promoting partnerships between Indian
start-ups and Dutch companies and build a network of entrepreneurs working on business solutions for
cleaner air. o Under it, an ‘INDUS impact’ project aims to halt the hazardous burning of paddy stubble
by promoting business partnerships that “up cycle” it. This entails using paddy straw as feedstock to make
materials that would find use in construction and packaging.
Ban on pet coke and furnace oil: The Supreme Court banned the use of furnace oil and pet-coke
in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Promotion of fuel standards-Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards by 1st April, 2020.
Subsidy to cooking fuel under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to curb indoor pollution.
Encouraging Alternatives: Promotion of public transport and network of metro, e-rickshaws, promotion of
car-pooling etc.
, Niti Aayog has proposed 15-point action plan titled 'Breathe India'for combating air pollution in ten
most polluted cities in the country, including Delhi, Kanpur and Varanasi.
Fly Ash
is a major source of PM 2.5 N settle on water and other surfaces. N contains heavy metals from coal, a
large amount of PM 2.5 and black carbon (BC).
How can it be utilised?
Fly ash is a proven resource material for many applications of construction industries and currently is
being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road
embankment construction and low-lying area development, etc.
There is need for education and awareness generation.
Road contractors and construction engineers need to know the benefits of using fly ash in construction.
Measures need to be taken to reduce the cost of construction of roads by using fly ash
with incentives by way of tax structure, subsidies and transportation services.
There is also a need to prevent the ash from coming to the power plant by washing the coal at its
place of origin.
The government should also come out with a policy to encourage fly ash use in cement plant.
ISSUES WITH UTILIZATION
Indian fly ash is primarily of the calcareous or class C variety Means contain also hydraulic
property
While the BIS is in line with the American standards on blended cement, the European and South
African standards allow the blending of fly ash up to 55%.
pricing of fly ash is increasing
Imperfections typical of quasi-markets, n technological limitations n lack of regulatory oversight
and political will
Way forward -
1. Conduct more research on improving the quality of fly ash, grading fly ash generated by different
technologies and types of coal, and feasible blending ratios for the cement industry.
2. The BIS must update the blending standards, which have not been revised since 2000.
3. Improve transparency and reduce the costs of fly ash disposal by Coal power plants.
4. Limit fly ash production through greater deployment of renewable energy sources, using better coal
and combustion techniques, etc, since cement-related industries alone will not be able to absorb all the
fly ash generated in the future
5. The key requirements for overcoming the barriers are greater regulatory oversight and price control,
revision of cement blending standards, research in improving fly ash quality, reducing cost of
transportation, provisions for overcoming information asymmetries, and overall sensitisation of key
decision-makers on the matter.
6. USE ASHTRACK - To facilitate 100% ash utilization by all coal based thermal power plants, a web portal for
monitoring of fly ash generation and utilization data of Thermal Power Plants and a mobile based application titled
, “ASHTRACK” has been launched by the Government . It will help to establish a link between fly ash users and
power plants executives for obtaining fly ash for its use in various areas.
Delhi air pollution
The situation of air pollution peaks with the onset of winters every year especially in the months of November,
December and January when the levels of air pollution reach much beyond the specified norms which results in
hazardous pollution related issues for the population of Delhi and NCR.
Key sources of air pollution in Delhi: There are 5 key sources of pollution-
Vehicles – grossly polluting vehicles like trucks and diesel vehicles as well as growing numbers that negates
the impact of cleaner fuel and emission technology.TERI's study shows that vehicle pollution causes 28%
of PM2.5 emissions in Delhi-NCR. Amongst the sources within Delhi, the share of the transport sector is
significant (39%) in PM2.5 emissions.
Combustion in power plants and industries using dirty fuels, like pet coke, coal and biomass.With as
many as 3,182 industries located across the Delhi-NCR, industrial pollution adds about 18.6% to the bad air
quality. As per TERI study, Industries contribute 30% to PM2.5 levels, with 14% from small industries.
Dust management on roads, construction sites etc., which adds to the particulate pollution. Dust: IIT
Kanpur study reveals contribution of soil & road dust towards PM10 as 14.4% during winters & 26.5%
during summers. Similarly, for PM2.5 it is 4.3% during winters and 27.1% during summers. Dust mostly
come from construction sites as well as the windblown dust from the western desert regions.
Garbage burning, both in landfills and other places where there is no collection, processing or
disposal. Municipal Solid Waste: Approx. 8370 tonnes of Municipal solid waste is generated in Delhi every
day and on an average 3,240 tonnes per day is being incinerated in quantity Solid Waste Treatment plants.
Both thermal power stations and waste management plants are some of other highly emitted zone,
contributing to 3.9% of the pollution load.
Brick Kilns: Outskirts of Delhi have roughly 360 brick kilns majorly scattered in Jhajjar, Faridabad and
Ghaziabad region. Since, their peak business month starts from December to June, the emissions from these
brick kiln also rise during the winter months.
Crop residue burning because farmers do not have alternatives for use of straw.stubble burning during
winter is one of the chief causes for rising air pollution levels in Delhi. However, it is largely a temporary
spike. Based on the TERI & ARAI source apportionment study 2018, the sources of pollutants over the
entire winter season, and specifically during the days when agricultural burning is prominent
Other
Firecrackers: Despite the ban on cracker sales in 2017, firecrackers were a common sight in
Diwali. It is the major reason for smog in Delhi after Diwali.
Stubble Burning: One of the main reasons for increasing air pollution during the month of
October-November is crop burning by the farmers in these states.Farmers burn rice
Weather: During the winter season, dust particles and pollutants in the air are unable to move.
Due to stagnant winds, these pollutants get locked in the air, resulting in smog.
High Density: UP and Bihar are high density states of India and Delhi is among the most densely
populated cities in the world. Over-population adds up to high incident ratio within smaller
, region.
Steps taken to tackle the Air Pollution in Delhi
Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) enforces Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
which comprises the graded measures for each source framed according to the Air Quality Index categories.
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is a pollution control initiative to cut the concentration of particles (PM10 &
PM2.5) by 20-30% by 2024. It is a nationwide programme including Delhi.
Advancing Bharat Stage-VI norms to April 2018 from April 2020. Delhi became first city running on BS VI fuels.
Delhi is scheduled to run hydrogen-CNG (H- CNG) fuelled buses to curb emission.
Tackling Stubble burning :
The government is giving subsidy to farmers for buying Turbo Happy Seeder(THS) which is a
machine mounted on a tractor that cuts and uproots the stubble and also drill wheat seeds.
Punjab and Haryana procure stubble and straw for biofuel plants and in the waste-to-energy
power generation plants.
Punjab govt is ready to pay 25k per acre to farmers who have not burnt straw.
The central government released the National Air Quality Index (AQI) for public information
under the aegis of the Central Pollution Control Board.
Construction of Eastern and Western Expressways for by-passing non-destined traffic from Delhi.
Reasons for limited success of Pollution Control Actions-
An efficient governance mechanism is central to the success of any anti- pollution effort. Unfortunately,
the Graded Response Action Plan notified by EPCA is being implemented by at least 16 different agencies.
Some are under the control of Union Government, some under the Delhi government and some are under the
administrative control of neighbouring states. In general, there are no political and executive level
coordination among them.
Delhi's air pollution is a regional problem. A study conducted by International Institute of Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASS) and the NEERI showed that about 60% of PM2.5 burden in Delhi is due to the
neighboring states. No Policy is likely to work unless it takes regional considerations into account. Inter-
agency efforts need to be controlled and coordinated by a central source.
Delhi needs to search for sources of emissions. During the past decade there have been 16 source
apportionment studies. While sources of emissions remain same in all the studies, the contribution from
different sources to Delhi's pollution varies greatly. This only underscore both the unreliability of
existing studies as well as difficulty in making accurate estimates, which is partly due to Delhi's
complex meteorology and the changing nature of sources of emissions, both in space and time.
Finally, Delhi lacks infrastructure. It has only half the buses it needs for public transport. This means that
private automobile use continues to grow, adding to the air pollution problem. The Delhi Pollution Control
Committee which has a mandate to enforce compliance with the air pollution rules in the city, suffers from a
serious scientific and technical manpower shortage (operating at about 3/4th since 1990). These gaps in
public infrastructure undermine the public confidence in the city's ability to address the worsening
air pollution problem.
Steps to be taken
2. Environmental pollution
AIR POLLUTION
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) global air pollution database, India has 14 out of the 15 most
polluted cities in the world in terms of PM 2.5 concentrations.
India ranks 178 out of 180 countries in Environmental Performance Index, 2018 in terms of air quality. Its
overall low ranking was linked to poor performance in the environment health policy and deaths due to air
pollution categories
Major Causes of Air Pollution
Emissions from burning of fossil fuels which include vehicular emissons, industrial emissions, emissions
from petroleum refineries and power plants.
Emissions from stubble burning- in agriculture, increases air pollution in Delhi and NCR area.
Release of dust and chemicals- from mining operations.
Other Causes- Dust Storm, Forest Fires, Deforestation, Landfills, Electronic Waste etc.
Effects of Air Pollution
Impact on Health- A recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that life
expectancy in India has gone down by 2.6 years due to deadly diseases caused by air pollution.
Impact on Economy- Financial cost from pollution-related death, sickness and welfare is about 6.2% of the
global economy.
Climate Change- which include global warming, acid rain, depletion of ozone layer Impact on Wildlife- Toxic
chemicals present in the air can force wildlife species to move to new place and change their habitat.
STEPS TAKEN BY GOVT
Carbon Emission by Thermal Power Plants (TPPs): Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
had notified environmental norms in December 2015 and direct them to reduce emission of PM 10, SO2 and
oxide of nitrogen.
Clean Air- India Initiative: to curb air pollution in Indian cities by promoting partnerships between Indian
start-ups and Dutch companies and build a network of entrepreneurs working on business solutions for
cleaner air. o Under it, an ‘INDUS impact’ project aims to halt the hazardous burning of paddy stubble
by promoting business partnerships that “up cycle” it. This entails using paddy straw as feedstock to make
materials that would find use in construction and packaging.
Ban on pet coke and furnace oil: The Supreme Court banned the use of furnace oil and pet-coke
in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Promotion of fuel standards-Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI fuel standards by 1st April, 2020.
Subsidy to cooking fuel under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to curb indoor pollution.
Encouraging Alternatives: Promotion of public transport and network of metro, e-rickshaws, promotion of
car-pooling etc.
, Niti Aayog has proposed 15-point action plan titled 'Breathe India'for combating air pollution in ten
most polluted cities in the country, including Delhi, Kanpur and Varanasi.
Fly Ash
is a major source of PM 2.5 N settle on water and other surfaces. N contains heavy metals from coal, a
large amount of PM 2.5 and black carbon (BC).
How can it be utilised?
Fly ash is a proven resource material for many applications of construction industries and currently is
being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road
embankment construction and low-lying area development, etc.
There is need for education and awareness generation.
Road contractors and construction engineers need to know the benefits of using fly ash in construction.
Measures need to be taken to reduce the cost of construction of roads by using fly ash
with incentives by way of tax structure, subsidies and transportation services.
There is also a need to prevent the ash from coming to the power plant by washing the coal at its
place of origin.
The government should also come out with a policy to encourage fly ash use in cement plant.
ISSUES WITH UTILIZATION
Indian fly ash is primarily of the calcareous or class C variety Means contain also hydraulic
property
While the BIS is in line with the American standards on blended cement, the European and South
African standards allow the blending of fly ash up to 55%.
pricing of fly ash is increasing
Imperfections typical of quasi-markets, n technological limitations n lack of regulatory oversight
and political will
Way forward -
1. Conduct more research on improving the quality of fly ash, grading fly ash generated by different
technologies and types of coal, and feasible blending ratios for the cement industry.
2. The BIS must update the blending standards, which have not been revised since 2000.
3. Improve transparency and reduce the costs of fly ash disposal by Coal power plants.
4. Limit fly ash production through greater deployment of renewable energy sources, using better coal
and combustion techniques, etc, since cement-related industries alone will not be able to absorb all the
fly ash generated in the future
5. The key requirements for overcoming the barriers are greater regulatory oversight and price control,
revision of cement blending standards, research in improving fly ash quality, reducing cost of
transportation, provisions for overcoming information asymmetries, and overall sensitisation of key
decision-makers on the matter.
6. USE ASHTRACK - To facilitate 100% ash utilization by all coal based thermal power plants, a web portal for
monitoring of fly ash generation and utilization data of Thermal Power Plants and a mobile based application titled
, “ASHTRACK” has been launched by the Government . It will help to establish a link between fly ash users and
power plants executives for obtaining fly ash for its use in various areas.
Delhi air pollution
The situation of air pollution peaks with the onset of winters every year especially in the months of November,
December and January when the levels of air pollution reach much beyond the specified norms which results in
hazardous pollution related issues for the population of Delhi and NCR.
Key sources of air pollution in Delhi: There are 5 key sources of pollution-
Vehicles – grossly polluting vehicles like trucks and diesel vehicles as well as growing numbers that negates
the impact of cleaner fuel and emission technology.TERI's study shows that vehicle pollution causes 28%
of PM2.5 emissions in Delhi-NCR. Amongst the sources within Delhi, the share of the transport sector is
significant (39%) in PM2.5 emissions.
Combustion in power plants and industries using dirty fuels, like pet coke, coal and biomass.With as
many as 3,182 industries located across the Delhi-NCR, industrial pollution adds about 18.6% to the bad air
quality. As per TERI study, Industries contribute 30% to PM2.5 levels, with 14% from small industries.
Dust management on roads, construction sites etc., which adds to the particulate pollution. Dust: IIT
Kanpur study reveals contribution of soil & road dust towards PM10 as 14.4% during winters & 26.5%
during summers. Similarly, for PM2.5 it is 4.3% during winters and 27.1% during summers. Dust mostly
come from construction sites as well as the windblown dust from the western desert regions.
Garbage burning, both in landfills and other places where there is no collection, processing or
disposal. Municipal Solid Waste: Approx. 8370 tonnes of Municipal solid waste is generated in Delhi every
day and on an average 3,240 tonnes per day is being incinerated in quantity Solid Waste Treatment plants.
Both thermal power stations and waste management plants are some of other highly emitted zone,
contributing to 3.9% of the pollution load.
Brick Kilns: Outskirts of Delhi have roughly 360 brick kilns majorly scattered in Jhajjar, Faridabad and
Ghaziabad region. Since, their peak business month starts from December to June, the emissions from these
brick kiln also rise during the winter months.
Crop residue burning because farmers do not have alternatives for use of straw.stubble burning during
winter is one of the chief causes for rising air pollution levels in Delhi. However, it is largely a temporary
spike. Based on the TERI & ARAI source apportionment study 2018, the sources of pollutants over the
entire winter season, and specifically during the days when agricultural burning is prominent
Other
Firecrackers: Despite the ban on cracker sales in 2017, firecrackers were a common sight in
Diwali. It is the major reason for smog in Delhi after Diwali.
Stubble Burning: One of the main reasons for increasing air pollution during the month of
October-November is crop burning by the farmers in these states.Farmers burn rice
Weather: During the winter season, dust particles and pollutants in the air are unable to move.
Due to stagnant winds, these pollutants get locked in the air, resulting in smog.
High Density: UP and Bihar are high density states of India and Delhi is among the most densely
populated cities in the world. Over-population adds up to high incident ratio within smaller
, region.
Steps taken to tackle the Air Pollution in Delhi
Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) enforces Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
which comprises the graded measures for each source framed according to the Air Quality Index categories.
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is a pollution control initiative to cut the concentration of particles (PM10 &
PM2.5) by 20-30% by 2024. It is a nationwide programme including Delhi.
Advancing Bharat Stage-VI norms to April 2018 from April 2020. Delhi became first city running on BS VI fuels.
Delhi is scheduled to run hydrogen-CNG (H- CNG) fuelled buses to curb emission.
Tackling Stubble burning :
The government is giving subsidy to farmers for buying Turbo Happy Seeder(THS) which is a
machine mounted on a tractor that cuts and uproots the stubble and also drill wheat seeds.
Punjab and Haryana procure stubble and straw for biofuel plants and in the waste-to-energy
power generation plants.
Punjab govt is ready to pay 25k per acre to farmers who have not burnt straw.
The central government released the National Air Quality Index (AQI) for public information
under the aegis of the Central Pollution Control Board.
Construction of Eastern and Western Expressways for by-passing non-destined traffic from Delhi.
Reasons for limited success of Pollution Control Actions-
An efficient governance mechanism is central to the success of any anti- pollution effort. Unfortunately,
the Graded Response Action Plan notified by EPCA is being implemented by at least 16 different agencies.
Some are under the control of Union Government, some under the Delhi government and some are under the
administrative control of neighbouring states. In general, there are no political and executive level
coordination among them.
Delhi's air pollution is a regional problem. A study conducted by International Institute of Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASS) and the NEERI showed that about 60% of PM2.5 burden in Delhi is due to the
neighboring states. No Policy is likely to work unless it takes regional considerations into account. Inter-
agency efforts need to be controlled and coordinated by a central source.
Delhi needs to search for sources of emissions. During the past decade there have been 16 source
apportionment studies. While sources of emissions remain same in all the studies, the contribution from
different sources to Delhi's pollution varies greatly. This only underscore both the unreliability of
existing studies as well as difficulty in making accurate estimates, which is partly due to Delhi's
complex meteorology and the changing nature of sources of emissions, both in space and time.
Finally, Delhi lacks infrastructure. It has only half the buses it needs for public transport. This means that
private automobile use continues to grow, adding to the air pollution problem. The Delhi Pollution Control
Committee which has a mandate to enforce compliance with the air pollution rules in the city, suffers from a
serious scientific and technical manpower shortage (operating at about 3/4th since 1990). These gaps in
public infrastructure undermine the public confidence in the city's ability to address the worsening
air pollution problem.
Steps to be taken
