The Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution adopted in 1992 provides instruments in the form of legislation and regulation, fiscal incentives, voluntary agreements and awareness campaigns to prevent and abate pollution of water, air noise and land. Since the adoption of the policy statement, the focus of various programmes and schemes of the Ministry and its associated organisations is aimed more at prevention and control of pollution at the beginning of the pipeline by adoption of clean technologies, waste minimisation and resource preservation rather than the traditional treatment at the end of the pipeline. One of the significant benefits inherent in the approach is that when waste is reduced/ eliminated or solvents are revived, it leads to resource conservation of the raw materials used during the various industrial processes and minimise the pollutants in the waste water within the premises. Hence the main focus of the pollution prevention and abatement programme is on command and control methods as well as voluntary regulations. Promotion of education and awareness campaign, development of mass based environmental standards, setting up of environmental laboratories, waste minimisation circles, environmental audit etc., are being undertaken.
The details of the scheme/ programmes undertaken during the year are as follows :-
Development and Promotion of Cleaner Technologies
Establishment of the Indian Centre for Promotion of Cleaner Technologies (ICPC)
With the assistance of the World Bank, the Ministry is establishing the Indian Centre for Promotion of Cleaner Technologies (ICPC) as a network of expert institutions which will provide the necessary inputs in creating a data base on available technologies, their relative performance and ranking, the source(s) from where the technologies can be obtained, needed investments etc. The World Bank has provided US$ 2.00 million as grant in-aid to set up the Centre. To begin with, two priority sectors namely; Industry and Energy have been identified for creating the data base. Counterpart funding to meet expenses of the staff for the initial three year period is to be met by the Government of India. A significant feature of the ICPC is that it shall provide evaluated and ranked technology options to the entrepreneurs.
The Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance have expressed some concerns regarding the proposal. These have been responded to and EFC meeting will be convened to reconsider the project proposal for approval. In the meantime, all the preparatory work for procuring the hardware under the World Bank contribution has been completed.
Life Cycle Assessment in the Steel Sector
For optimum utilisation of resources, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study in the Steel Sector has been initiated with joint funding of the Ministry and three identified steel plants. viz. Bhilai Steel Plant (Steel Authority of India Ltd); Jamshedpur Steel Plant of Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), and; Vizag Plant of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL). LCA is a new management tool, which examines from the cradle to grave various environmental issues associated with production, use, disposal and recycling of products including extraction of raw materials. Review meetings were held to chalk out detailed work schedules and LCA for the mining component of the study. Software of the ECOBILAN model has been procured and training for the concerned officers from participating institutions is in hand.
Natural Resource Accounting in Upper Yamuna (NRA)
A study covering the Upper Yamuna Basin has been taken up to prepare Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) corresponding to the economic returns that can be corelated and appropriate measures devised for technological and management interventions to ensure a more consistent and better stream of benefits from the same resource base. The multi- disciplinary and multi-institutional study has been completed and the draft report is under review.
Demonstration Project on Cleaner Technologies
Under the Cleaner Production Programme through Promotion of Cleaner Technology, a demonstration project on Thermo- Chemical Conversion Reactor for utilisation of Distillery Waste was undertaken by M/s Esvin Group of Industries. The project envisaged carrying out bench and demoplant trials before commercialisation. The report received from M/s Esvin was scrutinised and based on suggestions from experts, some additional work has been suggested to M/s Esvin. This has been completed and the final report submitted to the Ministry.
Adoption of Clean Technologies in Small Scale Industries
The scheme for promotion, development and adoption of clean technologies, including waste reuse and recycling, formulated earlier for small-scale industries is being continued. During the year, the following activities have been carried out under this scheme:
Environmental Action Plan for Control of Pollution at religious places
Most of the religious places like Varanasi, Prayag (Allahabad), Mathura, Ujjain, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Nasik, Ajmer Amritsar, Patna, Kurukshetra, Shringeri, Pushkar, Velangannimatha (Tamilnadu) etc. are located on the banks of rivers, lakes, sea, mountain streams, water falls or melting snow. Of late, water pollution in various rivers stretches lakes and ponds have been creating havoc for the pilgrims. To improve the conditions at such religious places an environmental action plan is being devised which envisages implementation of various pollution control measures in a time bound manner.
The Governor of Maharashtra had convened a high level meeting on 8th July, 1998 to address the issue of environmental protection for Mumbai Metropolitan region. The Minister for (E&F), senior officers of MoEF; the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, other state Govt. officials and eminent citizens of Mumbai participated in this meeting. In pursuance of the decision taken in the aforementioned meeting; a draft Action Plan for Control of Pollution in Mumbai region has been prepared by the CPCB. After seeking the comments of the Government of Maharashtra and detailed discussions with all the concerned authorities at the State and Central level, the draft Action Plan has been finalised.
As per the Supreme Court order, Taj Protection Mission (TPM) U.P. has been established as a joint venture between the Uttar Pradesh Government and Government of India. Central Government provides 50% of the matching grant for various schemes formulated to protect Taj. A Mission Management Board (MMB) has been constituted by the Government of U.P, which approves and monitors the various schemes for protection of Taj. Administrative approval for the project has been given by MMB and the technical staff of the concerned department carries out implementation of the scheme. To avoid air emission from the industrial units in the vicinity of Taj, Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), has made a provision for all the industrial units to avail the natural gas instead of traditional fuel for their furnaces. 115 units have so far signed the contracts with GAIL. In addition, widening of the main highways has been taken up and the work will be completed by May 1999. Since Taj is a tourist attraction, a project of solid waste management in Agra City and a barrage for water supply have been taken up on priority basis. The schemes undertaken in Taj Trapezium area during the current year are as follows: -
Environmental Epidemiological Studies
Environmental epidemiological studies are taken up in critically polluted areas of Mandi-Govindgarh (Punjab), Najafgarh Drain Basin (Delhi), Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and in industrial complex of Pune. Another study is commissioned to assess the prevalence of pulmonary and extra pulmonary silicosis in quarry workers around Delhi.
Other studies at Vapi (Gujrat), Chembur (Maharashtra), kochi (Kerala), Talcher (Orissa) are on the verge of completion. Some more areas are being identified for taking up further studies to assess impact of pollution on the people A pilot study to evaluate the severity and prevalence of plumbism in different population groups in Delhi has been completed.
A Committee on Environment and Health had been constituted under the Chairmanship of Prof. Ramalinga Swamy (former Director, AIIMS) to review the current status of environmental health and to develop appropriate policy, strategy and action plan to improve environmental health.
A project on Waste Minimisation in small-scale industries has been launched with the National Productivity Council (NPC) as a nodal agency under the World Bank assisted industrial pollution prevention project. Under the capacity building activity of this project NPC is to provide training to 80 external consultants in the fields of waste minimisation who could be engaged as Waste Minimisation Circle (WMC) Facilitators. A complete package of activities to be carried out in successfully managing the project was compiled. This includes the process of selection and training of WMC facilitators, development of guidelines towards running of WMCs by the Facilitators, information sharing mechanism and procedures for effective communication, outlining financial parameters and conditions and development progress criteria and indicators etc. A total number of 65 Consultants from 51 organisations have been trained so far. Of this, 44 Consultants have been selected to act as facilitators. Amongst these, 12 Facilitators have succeeded in establishing the WMCs. Some more are in the process of establishing the WMCs. The Facilitators have established 25 WMCs so far with the assistance from NPC. These circles are in various stages of functioning. Most of them have formed the unit level teams and collected the base line data which is required for the circle meetings and for the generation of waste minimisation options.
The small-scale industries have been the beneficiary of the project in many ways. The industries have introduced systematic manufacturing and measurement procedure and implemented several waste minimisation options and gained economically which has also resulted in improvement of environment.
Environmental Statement (As part of Environmental Audit)
Submission of an environmental statement by polluting units seeking consent either under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 or the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1991 or both and the authorisation under the Hazardous wastes (management and Handling) Rules, 1989 to the concerned State Pollution Control Boards has been made mandatory through a Gazette Notification issued under the Environment (Protection) act, 1986. The Environmental Statement enables units to take a comprehensive look at their industrial operations and facilitates understanding of material flows and focus on areas where waste reduction and consequently savings in input costs in possible. Activities undertaken during the year are as follows:-
Status of Pollution Control in 17 Categories of Identified Highly Polluting Industries
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 1982 had identified 1551 large and medium industries which had been contributing maximum pollution to Ambient air and water. They had been given a strict time schedule to install necessary pollution control equipment to comply with present environmental standards. Out of 1551 industries, 1266 have so far provided the stipulated standards. 130 industries have been closed down and the remaining 155 industries are defaulting. Status of the action taken against the 155 defaulting industries is given in Table-8.
Status of Action taken against the 155 defaulting industries
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sl. No. Action Taken No. of Industries
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Pending in the Hon ble Supreme Court 24
(2) Compliance reported by the industries
CPCB and SPCBs to inspect and verify
the status 64
(3) Under the process of commissioning
requisite pollution control facilities as
per the time- frame given to the industries 67
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The defaulting units are in the process of installing the requisite pollution control facilities. The CPCB and State Pollution Control Board (SPCBs) / Pollution Control Committees (PCC) regularly monitor the status of pollution control in these industries.
State wise summary of Status of pollution control in the 17 categories of industries as on 15th November 1998 is given in Table-9.
State-wise summary status of the pollution control in 17 categories of industries (as on November 15, 1998)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sl. No. State/UT Total No. Status (No. of Units)
of Units Closes C# Defaulters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Andhra Pradesh 123 28 142 03
2. Arunachal Pradesh 00 00 00 00
3. Assam 15 00 11 04
4. Bihar 62 14 35 13
5. Goa 06 00 06 00
6. Gujarat 177 03 167 07
7. Haryana 43 03 32 08
8. Himachal Pradesh 09 00 09 00
9. Jammu & Kashmir 08 03 01 04
10. Karnataka 85 08 68 09
11. Kerala 28 05 20 03
12. Madhya Pradesh 78 05 59 14
13. Maharashtra 335 20 296 19
14. Manipur 00 00 00 00
15. Meghalaya 01 00 00 01
16. Mizoram 00 00 00 00
17. Nagaland 00 00 00 00
18. Orissa 23 01 13 09
19. Punjab 45 03 25 17
20. Rajasthan 49 05 42 02
21. Sikkim 01 00 00 01
22. Tamil Nadu 119 02 114 03
23. Tripura 00 00 00 00
24. UT- Andaman & Nicobar 00 00 00 00
25. UT- Chandigarh 01 00 01 00
26. UT- Daman & Diu, Dadar & 00 00 00 00
Nagar Haveli
27. UT- Delhi 05 00 02 03
28. UT. Lakshadweep 00 00 00 00
29. UT- Pondicherry 06 01 04 01
30. Uttar Pradesh 224 15 187 22
31 West Bengal 58 14 32 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 1551 130 1266 155
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Having adequate facilities to comply with the standards
## Not having adequate facilities to comply with the standards
CPCB / SPCBs / PCCs have also been requested for updating the inventory of industries in the 17 categories of highly polluting industries to monitor their effluents and emissions on a regular basis.
Development of Environmental Standards
The Ministry lays down industry specific as well as general effluent and emission standards under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. During the year Standards for the following categories of industries have been finalised and notified in the Official Gazette by the Ministry:-
The compliance of the standards of industries/ units is ensured by the State Pollution Control Boards/ Pollution Control Committees mainly through their consent mechanism.
Recognition of Environmental Laboratories under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
Under Sections 12 and 13 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Ministry recognises environmental laboratories and the Government Analysts working in the laboratories to carry out the functions entrusted to them under the Act. While powers for recognising environment laboratories of the Government and autonomous organisations have been delegated to the CPCB, laboratories in the Private Sector are recognised by the Ministry. Ministry also participates in the joint inspection of environmental laboratories with CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards/ Pollution Control Committees. During the year based on the examination and recommendation of the inspection report of joint visits, three private laboratories have been recognised.
All recognised laboratories have to participate in the annual Analytical Quality Control (AQC) exercise being conducted by CPCB. Dummy samples are sent to the recognised laboratories and the results given by them are compared with the standard results of the same and variation, if any, is reported to the laboratory for implementation.
Industrial Pollution Complaints
During the year, about 750 complaints regarding various types of pollution- air, water noise and land have been received in the Ministry. These complaints were attended to by calling in details and exact status from CPCB/ SPCBs. Most of the complaints relate to pollution from small-scale units operating in residential areas. Some complaints relate to discharge of untreated or partially treated effluents thereby contaminating water bodies/ land/ ground water. Air pollution complaints were also received for certain cement, thermal power plants and other industries.
CPCB has been conducting noise surveys in major cities of the country. During the year such surveys were conducted in Varanasi, Vijayawada and Thiruvananthapuram which indicate that there is an increasing trend of noise in the commercial, residential and silence zones whereas noise is almost within limits in industrial areas. This increase is mainly due to vehicular traffic.
National Committee on Noise Pollution Control has assessed the standards for fire works based on the studies conducted by National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), and has recommended following standards for fire works.
The noise standards for 15- 500 KVA generator sets had been notified. For, the control of noise from portable generator sets (upto 2.5 KVA) the Committee has recommended acoustic hoods and exhaust mufflers which will help to reduce the noise by 15-20 decibel depending upon the make of the portable generator sets. The revisions of noise standards for automobiles have been recommended to EEC standards of 1996 which will come in force from 2002 onwards.
Environmental Statistics and Mapping
Under the scheme, during the year a project on preparation of Environmental Atlas for metro cities and other major cities in the country depicting the pollution data relating to air water, soil and noise along with their trends has been sponsored to CPCB. The project covers 23 metro- cities and about 10 other cities. A project Integrated Coastal Environmental Management Plan in the region between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada has been sponsored to Environmental Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI), Hyderabad.
Zoning Atlas for siting of Industries
In order to delineate the areas that are suitable for industrial siting and for classification for different categories based on their existing environmental features, a project for preparation of district- wise zoning atlas has been taken up by the CPCB in collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards. Various other agencies including the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) and the National Remote Sensing agency (NRSA) are also involved in this project.
The zoning atlas for siting of industries, zones and classifies the environment in a district and presents the pollution receiving potential of various sites/zones in the district and the possible alternate sites for industries, through easy- to read maps (Fig. 48). The industrial zones are identified based on the sensitivity and pollution receiving potential of the district.
The programme on zoning atlas for siting of industries covered under the Environment Management Capacity Building Technical Assistance Project covers the following components:-
The details of various activities undertaken during the year under the various components are given below :-
Following the decision taken by the National River Conservation Authority (NRCA) the CPCB has directed the SPCBs and PCC to ensure that the polluting industries install the requisite pollution control systems within the specified period. The SPCBs/ PCC were also directed to issue closure order to those industries, which do not take necessary action within the stipulated period. The number of defaulting units identified by SPCBs in August, 1997 was 2137, thus included 1657 defaulters in Tamil Nadu which the State Board had identified in compliance of an order of the Hon ble High Court for inventorisation of all the industries located within a distance of 1 Km. from the water bodies in the State of Tamil Nadu. The inventorisation was not as per the criteria adopted for identification of grossly polluting industries discharging their effluents into rivers and lakes. Therefore, the need for revision of list of industries in respect of Tamil Nadu has been discussed and the Board has now revised their list and identified 366 numbers as the defaulting industries. The revised summary status as per the information provided by SPCBs/ PCCs is given in Table-10.
Summary status of pollution control in grossly polluting industries discharging their effluents into rivers and lakes
(as on November 15, 1998)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sl. No. Name of the State/UT No. of No. of No. of No. of
Defaulters complying industries defaulters
in August 97 industries closed
after issuance
of direction
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Andhra Pradesh 55 19 08 28
2. Assam 07 -- 04 03
3. Bihar 14 -- -- 14
4. Gujarat 17 03 00 14
5. Haryana 21 04 05 12
6. Karnataka 20 14 -- 06
7. Kerala 36 32 04 00
8. Madhya Pradesh 02 -- -- 02
9. Maharashtra 06 01 03 02
10 Orissa 09 03 01 05
11. Pondicherry 04 01 -- 03
12. Punjab 18 04 02 12
13. Tamil Nadu 366 37 62 267
14. Uttar Pradesh 242 57 41 144
15. West Bengal 30 01 06 23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 847 176 136 535
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Control of Vehicular Pollution
Specification of two- stroke engine oil :
---------------------------------------------------------------- Specification Standard Test Procedure ---------------------------------------------------------------- Two-stroke engine oil Minimum Jaso-m342-92 grade smoke for JASO-FC and Jaso-Fc as per Index of 85 ASTM D 4859 JASO M-345-93 Apitc specification and API TC as per specification No. ASTM D 4859 ----------------------------------------------------------------
The above specification shall be effective from the Ist day of April, 1999.
The Ministry has constituted an Intersectroal Committee under the Chairman, CPCB to formulate an auto- oil programme to come into effect from the year 2005. The Committee has convened four meetings for recommending emission norms for vehicles at the manufacturing stage and fuel specifications of automotive fuels for vehicles meeting such norms.
The Inter-ministerial Committee on Alternative Fuels constituted by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has considered the need for minimising pollution due to automobile emissions. Various other alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas, liquid petroleum gas are being considered for use in automobiles by this Committee.
In order to promote the use of ethanol gasoline blend in automobiles for further reduction of vehicular emissions, particularly in the metropolitan cities, this Ministry sought the views of the nodal Ministries/ institutions/ agencies with an agreeable time frame on the following issues
---------------------------------------------------------------
Pollutant Emission Standard for Petrol Driven 4-wheelers
---------------------------------------------------------------
Without With
Catalytic Catalytic
Converter Converter
---------------------------------------------------------------
CO (gm/km) 8.68-12.40 4.36-6.20
HC + NO (gm/km) 3.0-4.36 1.5-2.18
Total (CO+HC+NO) 11.68-16.76 5.84-8.38
---------------------------------------------------------------
These norms have been notified by the Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST) on 21.1.1998.
The Ministry of Surface Transport, vide S.O 454(E), dated 25th May 1998 has notified the stipulations that the 4- wheeler petrol drive vehicles, as are registered on first scale in the cities on or after the 1st of August, 1998 shall be fitted by the manufacturers there of with a noble-metal based catalytic converter of at least an oxidative type and with an OEM certification. The list of such cities is given in Table-12.
List of cities where 4-wheeler petrol dirve vehicles shall be fitted by catalytic converter and OEM certification
----------------------------------------------------------------- State/UT's Cities ----------------------------------------------------------------- Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar Assam Dispur Bihar Patna, Jamshedpur and Ranchi Chandigarh Chandigarh Goa Panjim Gujarat Gandhinagar, Surat and Baroda Haryana Gurgaon, Hissar and Ambala Himachal Pradesh Shimla J & K Jammu and Srinagar Karnataka Bangalore Kerala Trivandrum, Cochin and Calicut Madhya Pradesh Bhopal and Indore Maharashtra Pune and Nagpur Manipur Imphal Meghalaya Shillong Mizoram Aizwal Nagaland Kohima Orissa Bhubaneswar Punjab Amristar, Ludhiana and Jalandar Rajasthan Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur Sikkim Gangtok Tripura Agartala Uttar Pradesh Lucknow, Allahabad and Kanpur Andaman & Nicobar Port Blair Dadar & Nagar Haveli Silvassa Pondicherry Pondicherry -----------------------------------------------------------------
Phasing out of old commercial vehicles
The Department of Transport, Govt of NCT Delhi, as part of vehicular pollution control measures, has cancelled the permits of commercial vehicles older than 17 years and has impounded such vehicles operating. The impounded vehicles are released after the owners give an undertaking to sell these vehicles outside Delhi. Out of 7696 three wheelers deposited with Delhi Government upto December 31, 1998, 4403 three wheelers have been scrapped, 332 vehicles older than 17 years have been impounded. A scheme has also been introduced for purchase of new vehicles by the owners of phased out vehicles (more than 15 years old) which include:
Central Pollution Control Board
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is an autonomous body of the Ministry set up in September, 1974, under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) act, 1974. It co-ordinates the activities of the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) , and also advises the Central Government on all matters concerning the prevention and control of environmental pollution. The CPCB, SPCBs and the PCCs are responsible for implementing the legislations relating to prevention and control of pollution; they also develop rules and regulations which prescribe the standards for emissions and effluents of air and water pollutants and noise levels. The CPCB also provides technical services to the Ministry for implementing the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
During the year, special thrust was given to nation wide pollution prevention plan, particularly with reference to combating vehicular pollution, pollution control in 17 categories of highly polluting industries, implementation of action plans for restoration of environmental quality in critically polluted areas and noise pollution control.
New dimensions such as Bio-medical Waste, Magement of Municipal Waste (Sewage and Solid), Environmental Guidelines for Industrial Estates, Vehicular Pollution Control etc. were also addressed.
Details of some of the major activities of the CPCB during the year are given below :
Assessment and Monitoring of Water Quality
The CPCB in collaboration with SPCBs is monitoring the Indian Aquatic Resources globally under Global Environmental Monitoring and at the national level under MINARS since 1977. The monitoring programme started with merely 17 monitoring stations on the river Yamuna and extended steadily over the years. By the year 1998, the monitoring network spread over 495 stations covering almost al the major river basins, few medium and minor basins, 35 lakes, 24 ground, waters some creeks, canals tanks, and ponds, Area wise and population- wise distribution of water quality monitoring network is presented in Fig 50. The water quality monitoring results indicate that organic and bacterial pollution still continue to be pre- dominant pollution in Indian aquatic resources. A large part of municipal sewage is still flowing in untreated form in nearby receiving water bodies thereby reducing dissolved oxygen required for supporting aquatic life., increasing organic pollution load in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and exponential increase in number of coliform bacteria-an indicator of the presence of disease causing organisms in water.
The water quality monitoring has been carried out by CPCB for the last 20 years. An attempt was made to analyse the water quality observations acquired over last 12 years. The analysis was done with respect to BOD, total coliform and coliform (the key pollution parameters of water quality in India). Results of such analysis are presented in Fig 51.
Pollution Assessment of Rivers
Basin Sub-Basin Inventory of Water Pollution
Water Supply, Wastewater Generation, Collection, Treatment and Disposal in Indian Cities
Monitoring of Yamuna River for Assessment of Water Quality
The CPCB has been assigned a project by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) to undertake Water Quality Monitoring in River Yamuna. The water quality monitoring is being carried out in mid stream every month at 15 base line stations from foothill of Himalaya (Hathnikund) to the down stream of the confluence point of River Chambal and Yamuna. Besides, 13 major drains joining River Yamuna, within the stretch mentioned earlier, are also being monitored regularly. At impact stations, twelve heavy metals and pesticides are monitored and analysed in river water and sediments. The number of parameters monitored increased upto 42 parameters in lean flow month (June) specifically at all the locations.
Bio-Mapping of Yamuna River Basin
Water quality mapping in various aquatic bodies is an important exercise as it help in the identification of water bodies which are in need of improvement of water quality, as well as the extent of pollution control needed. With this in view, the project has been initiated for bio mapping of all the rivers and tributaries of the Yamuna river basin namely Tons, Girim Hindon, Chambal, Betwa, Sind and Ken. Chambal River is the largest and most important tributary of river Yamuna occupying generally half of basin area. The bio- assessment of water quality undertaken during the reported period using biological water quality criteria of various tributaries in Yamuna River basin are depicted in Table-13.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
River/ Water quality based Water quality Assigned indicator
Tributaries Stretch on bio- assessment class colour
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hindon Saharanpur (U.P) to Heavy ot severely D to E Orange to Red
Kulesara at the confluence polluted
of Yamuna
Chambal Upstream of Bar Nagar Moderately polluted C Green
(M.P) to Dholpur
At Nagda Severely polluted E Red
Betwa Upstream of Mandeedeep Severely polluted and E to C Red to Green
(Bhopal,M.P) to Hamirpur then imporves to
at the confluence of moderate pollution
Yamuna
Sind At Gwalior Datial Moderately polluted C Green
(M.P.) Road
Ken At Panna to Banda (M.P) Clean with slight A to B Blue to light blue
before confluence to pollution
Yamuna
Yamuna Yamunotri to Dakpathar Clean A Blue
Hathnikund to upstream Moderately polluted C Green
Delhi
Delhi Severely polluted E Red
Mathura and Agra Highly polluted D Orange
Etawah to Allahabad Moderately polluted C Green
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industrial Pollution Control along the River Ganga
The follow up programmes in respect of the 68 industries identified under Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase I was initiated by CPCB soon after the introduction of GAP in 1985. These programmes included joint inspection of each of these industries every year by teams comprising officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the concerned State pollution Control Boards (SPCBs). This exercise of follow up through joint inspections continued till the end of 1993.
The status of these industries was thoroughly reviewed at the beginning of 1994 and it was found that out of the 49 industries which had by then installed the ETPs, 21 were reported as not operating satisfactorily. The CPCB, therefore, conducted an in-depth performance evaluation of each of these ETPs in 1994 to identify the reasons for their non- satisfactory operation. The findings and suggestions were communicated to all the concerned for improvements/ upgradation of the ETPs. Out of the 68 industries, all the operating units had provided ETPs by early 1995. The summary status is given in Table-14.
Summary Status of the 68 Industries identified under the Ganga Action Plan (as on March 31, 1998)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sl. No. Status Number of Industries Total
U.P. Bihar West Bengal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. ETP operating satisfactory 20 04 21 45
2. ETP operating not satisfactory 00 00 00 00
3. Industreis Closed 14 01 08 23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 34 05 29 68
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action Against Polluting Industries Discharging Effluents into River and Lakes
National River Conservation Authority (NRCA) in its meeting held on July 12, 1997 under chairmanship of the Hon ble Prime Minister, decided that the polluting industries which are only discharging their effluents into river and lakes should be directed to install the requisite treatment systems within three months, failing which closure notices should be issued. Accordingly the Chairman, CPCB at the instance of Ministry issued directions under section 18 (1) (b) of the Water Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 to all the PCCs on July 14, 1997, requiring them to:
Data received from the SPCBs/PCCs in response to the above directions were compiled and discussed in a meeting taken by the Hon ble MEF on August 19, 1997 for follow-up actions to be taken by SPCBs/PCCs. As a follow up of the decisions taken in the meeting, Chairman CPCB also constituted four Regional Expert Committees for Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern Region to : (I) monitor the compliance of directions issued by CPCB on July 14, 1997 and directions to industries issued by the concerned SPCBs/PCCs; and (ii) for compliance of the directions and to recommend the extension of the time, if any.
The four regional Committees reviewed the progress made in implementation of the programme through organisation of meetings with the concerned SPCBs/PCCs at various locations in the country. The important decisions taken in these meetings and also communicated to the various Boards/Committees for implementation include (i) the industries where the commissioning of ETPs are going on satisfactorily are to be given a reasonable time extension, (ii) the industries which have neither shown sufficient progress nor complying with the standards are to be issued closure notices, (iii) the industries which are closed are to be directed not to restart till they provide requisite ETPs, and (iv) the industries where there is no ETP are to be issued confirmed orders for their closure with immediate effect. Further actions on the basis of the recommendations were taken by the SPCBs/PCCs.
Air quality, with regard to Sulphur dioxide (S02), Oxides of Nitrogen (NO2) and Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) in terms of Low, Moderate, High and Critical in the cities/towns were monitored during the reported period. The concentration ranges for different levels have been selected based on the Notified Standards (S) for different Pollutants and Area Classes. The Air Quality is termed as Low (L) if the value of the pollutant is less than half of the notified standards (<0.5 x S), Moderate (M) if it lies between half of S and S (0.5x S- 1.0 x S), high (H) if it lies between S and 1.5 time S (1.0 x S 1.5 x S) and Critical (C) if more than 1.5 times S (>1.5 x S). For a city having more than one monitoring location in a given area class, the location with the highest concentration has been considered. The critical levels of SO2 were observed in the cities of Howrah, NO2 in Howrah and SPM in almost all the cities of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Delhi & U.T of Pondicherry.
Monitoring of Human Exposure to Air Pollution
In this study, human exposure to air pollution has been assessed in a highly industrialised area in the city of Mumbai (Table-15). The target group was people of low socio-economic level who reside and work in the study area as they are subjected to the worst exposure due to air pollution. The major objectives were to investigate the relation between ambient air quality and personal exposure measurements as well as to identify the factors which affect exposure concentrations.
Average Concentration Levels of Air Pollutants in the Study on Exposure Assessment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pollutants Personal Occupational Residential Ambient NAAQS in (Units) Exposure Exposure Exposure Air Quality India ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PM 330ñ175 358ñ187 308ñ225 140ñ102 100 æ/m3 (RPM5) (RPM5) (RPM5) (PM10) (PM10) NOx 33.3ñ16.1 29.9ñ14.1 33.3ñ16.3 21ñ12 43 (ppb) CO 2.4 3.4 2.0 BDL 3.2 (ppm) Pb 2.32ñ1.28 2.6ñ2.5 2.47ñ2.16 0.34ñ0.25 1.0 æg/m3 K 7.7ñ6.9 7.9ñ10.71 6.32ñ2.74 0.54ñ0.42 -- æg/m3 CD 0.15ñ0.16 0.27ñ0.39 0.06ñ0.35 0.017ñ0.027 -- æg/m3 PAH 23.83 42.36 5.2 21.2 -- æg/m3 B(a) P 2.69 4.89 0.48 1.4 -- æg/m3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This can provide important inputs for estimation of health risk of population. The major recommendations of the study are given below.
There are several gaps in knowledge and understanding in the field of exposure assessment. Research work is needed on exposure monitoring instrumentation, indoor, outdoor relation models, estimation of exposure effectiveness of sources and epidemiological studies to relate health effects to air pollution exposure.
Hospital Waste Management in Delhi
In compliance of the Hon ble Supreme Court order dated 7.5.96 in the matter of B.L. Wadhera vs. Union of India and also to look into other aspects of hospital waste management in Delhi, 32 major hospitals in Delhi were inspected during May 28 to June 18, 1997 and the report was submitted before the Hon ble Court. Another 34 hospitals in Delhi were inspected during July 16 to October 24, 1997, and the report was submitted before the Hon ble Court.
Based on the inspection reports, following are the status of installation of treatment facilities for biomedical waste in Delhi.
No. of hospitals which have installed incinerator 9 No. of hospital which have installed autoclave 1 No. of hospitals where incinerators are either old 10 Or not in good condition No. of hospitals which have installed incinerator 4 But yet to be commissioned No. of hospitals where incinerators are under installation 4
CPCB has sponsored the project on Inventorisation of Hazardous Waste Generation in various states. The objective of the study was to identify hazardous waste generating units, sector and category-wise quantification of hazardous waste generation, and to evaluate present method of hazardous waste management practices adopted by industrial units. The present status of hazardous waste in some states is given in Table-16.
Present Status of Hazardous Waste in some States
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Sl. No. State No. of No. of Units HW Disposal Site
HWG Units Granted
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Authorisation Identified Notified
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1. Andhra Pradesh 233 230 2 1
2. Bihar 36 33 2 -
3. Goa 23 20 - -
4. Gujarat 1582 1582 19 8
5. Karnataka 292 250 1 Nil
6. Kerala 64 54 Nil Nil
7. Orrisa 120 49 2 Nil
8. Tamil Nadu 962 953 9 -
9. West Bengal 154 40 5 Nil
10. Pondicherry 10 10 1 Nil
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The study reports for the States of Orrisa and Kerela have been documented. Study in Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, National Capital Region (covering Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Modinagar except Delhi which is in progress) and Madhya pradesh has been completed.
As per the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, hazardous waste disposal sites have to be designed and managed in such a way that no harmful substances reaches the biosphere and hydrosphere in unacceptable quantity.
Keeping this in view, a project on Technical Environmental Impact Assessment for Identification of Hazardous Waste disposal sites in Delhi has been carried out and completed. An evaluation criteria was developed to select proper hazardous waste disposal sites in the identified industrial estates, In order to select the suitable site for the disposal of hazardous waste in Delhi Region, the environmental settings of each site were evaluated as per the developed evaluation criteria. Based on these information each site was evaluated and potential sites were selected for detailed investigation.
After the study, a site near Bawana-Narela Road is considered for development of secured landfill. The total land requirement for the disposal of hazardous waste generated has been estimated to be about 20 hectares for about 15 years. The design for the development of secured landfill is also proposed in the report. The Delhi Govt. is in the process of notifying the site.
Management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
During the year, CPCB interacted with various municipal corporations and with the State Pollution Control Boards/ Committees for drawing attention on the issue. Several steps have been taken for ensuring that urban local bodies take necessary steps for prevention and control of pollution. Directions have been issued under section 18 (I) (b) of the Water (Prevention an Control of Pollution) act, 1997 to SPCBs / PCCs to the following effect;
Status of Municipal Solid Waste in The Country
The Central Pollution Control Board has carried out a survey to assess the status of municipal solid waste generation, collection, treatment and disposal in 299 class I cities and 345 class II towns. These cities/towns generate 52,035 tonnes of solid wastes per day with an overall per capita contribution of 0.346 kg/day. Out of this, only 2,832 tonnes get various types of treatment. The 23 metropolis contribute major share of the municipal solid waste amounting to 30,558 tonnes/day. (59% percent of class I cities & class II towns, while the other class I cities contribution is only 18,076 tonnes/day(%). On the other hand, only 6% of the total municipal solid waste is generated from 345 class II towns.
Pollution Control in Problem Areas
Status of Pollution Control in Highly Polluting Industries
The implementation of the action plan for pollution control in 1551 medium and large-scale units identified under 17 highly polluting industrial sectors was continued. Actions under Section 5 of the EP Act, 1986 were taken against all the defaulters and the industries were directed to provide the requisite pollution control facilities within a given time frame as per the targets given in the directions. Personal hearings were also conducted for some of the defaulting industries before the issuance of the confirmed directions to them for closure or commissioning of the requisite treatment systems. The various efforts made by CPCB has resulted into providing of the requisite pollution control facilities by 1261 of these 1551 industries, 125 units are closed and the remaining 165 defaulting industries are covered under the above action taken by CPCB under Section (5) of the E (P) Act, 1986, Out of these 165 defaulting industries 64 units which claimed compliance were asked to file affidavits declaring compliance.
Performance studies of the selected ETPs ECS for verification of compliance status in 176 categories of industries were also carried out and appropriate action were taken against the concerned industries on the basis of the findings of the visits.
The SPCBs /PCCs have also been asked to inventorise the industries of 17 categories which came into operation on or after January 1, 1992 (i.e. Post 91 industries), and send the names alongwith the pollution control status of such industries to CPCB for compilation and monitoring.
The role of NGOs for pollution control activities can be hardly be over emphasised. An NGO cell has been set up in CPCB to coordinate the following tasks :
Hazardous Substances Management