25-Mar-2021: Quality of Water of Rivers

Rivers in the country are polluted and contaminated mainly due to discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage from cities/ towns and industrial effluents in their respective catchments. Non-point sources of pollution like agricultural runoff, open defecation, runoff from solid waste dump sites, etc. also contribute to pollution of rivers.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in collaboration with the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) is regularly monitoring the water quality of rivers & other water bodies in the country through a network of monitoring stations. As per CPCB report of September 2018, 351 polluted river stretches have been identified on 323 rivers based on monitoring results in terms of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels, an indicator of organic pollution. State-wise details of polluted river stretches are given below.

As per another report published by CPCB in March 2015, sewage generation from urban areas in the country is estimated at 61,948 million litres per day (mld), against which available sewage treatment capacity was 23,277 mld.

For strengthening the monitoring mechanism and effective compliance through self-regulatory mechanism, CPCB has directed all 17 categories of highly polluting industries; including sugar industries, to install Continuous Effluent/ Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) for keeping a constant vigil on pollution levels. CPCB started inspection of the 17 categories of highly polluting industries from 2016-17 onwards based on the computer generated short message service (SMS) alerts owing to violation of effluent and emission standards recorded in OCEMS installed in these industries.

CPCB has informed that 27 sugar industries have been inspected from October, 2016 till January, 2021 under this initiative, and 13 industries were found non-complying during inspection. Show-cause notices to 3 industries and closure directions to 9 industries were, therefore, issued as per Section 5 of Environment Protection Act, 1986. For the remaining one industry, directions were issued to Maharashtra SPCB under Section 18(1)(b) of the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981. Out of these 13 sugar industries found non-complying during inspection, 8 industries are found complying as on date, and directions are, therefore, still in force for the remaining 5 industries.

CPCB has identified 2968 grossly polluting industries (GPIs) in the country. Out of these, 2318 industries are operational and 650 industries have closed down on their own. Out of the 2318 operational industries, 2190 industries are complying with prescribed environmental standards, whereas 128 are non-complying. Accordingly, show-cause notices have been issued to 56 non-complying industries, closure directions have been issued to 55 industries and legal cases have been filed against 2 industries.

31-Dec-2020: CPCB asks NCR states pollution board and agencies to take immediate and effective steps to control Air Pollution.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been reviewing air quality and meteorological scenario in Delhi-NCR on continuous basis. As per the forecast received from Indian Meteorological

Department, the ventilation conditions are likely to slow down in Delhi causing poor dispersion of pollutants due to which, AQI is predicted to be in Very Poor category for coming days.

In view of deteriorating air quality and likely increase in activities during New Year celebrations, CPCB had issued an order on 23.12.2020 directing Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and SPCBs in NCR states namely, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan to ensure the following:

• Hot mix plants and stone crushers shall remain closed all the time till January 02, 2021.
• Frequency of mechanized cleaning of roads and water sprinkling to be increased particularly on the road stretches with high dust generation potential.
• It shall be ensured that guidelines/standard operating procedures for dust mitigation at construction sites are strictly adhered to. In case of violations, strict action should be taken against the violators like imposition of penalty/ temporary stoppage of construction activities.
• Agencies must ensure compliance of orders of Hon’ble Courts and National Green Tribunal regarding banning of sale and use of firecrackers.

As per Hon’ble NGT order dated October 15, 2019, in the matter of Utkarsh Panwar Vs. Central Pollution Control Board, all brick kilns in NCR are already closed.

CPCB has deployed 50 teams for field inspections in Delhi –NCR (with special emphasis on hotspots) since 15th of October this year, to assess the ground level scenario and ensure enforcement of mitigation measures for control of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. These teams have been visiting pollution hotspots and other areas in Delhi NCR region and reporting the violations of various guidelines/norms by posting these on the SAMEER App.

DPCC, SPCBs of NCR states and various central and state agencies have been requested to take effective steps immediately which will help in controlling pollution.

23-Sep-2020: Central Pollution Control Board celebrates its 46th Foundation Day

Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change ,Sh. Babul Supriyo today said, people and governments need to share the responsibility and work together to keep the air clean. Speaking at the webinar to commemorate 46th Year of Establishment of Central Pollution Control Board, he said, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been doing a remarkable work in terms of collecting and collating the data related to pollution which is acting as a key policy input for the government and the concerned agencies to improve air quality. He said, CPCB has been providing a real time data which is commendable.

Shri Supriyo said, that the pandemic COVID-19 has given us the opportunity to press the reboot button to save the environment. The Minister further said, that there is a need to ensure that water is not polluted because it can have an adverse impact on the crops. He appreciated CBCB for handling bio-medical waste during the times of COVID-19.

The CBCB was established on September 23, 1974 under The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 as a technical arm of Central Government for environmental research, monitoring, regulation and enforcement in the country.

Since its inception, CPCB is working tirelessly towards environmental protection in the country. Some of the pro-active actions of the Central Board include setting sector specific standards (86); real time surveillance of more than 5,000 industries; river basin studies, which led to genesis of Ganga Action Plan; multi-city source apportionment studies; establishing extensive monitoring network and data management for public dissemination; setting national ambient air quality standards; and fixing water quality criteria.

CPCB’s actions have been critical in obviating steep environmental degradation expected of rapid industrial, commercial and population growth. With increasing environmental challenges and mounting public expectations, CPCB is working to re-define pollution control technologies and management strategies.

On the occasion of CPCB’s Foundation Day on September 23, 2020, a webinar was organized at Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change to present CPCB’s transformative goals for 2030 and discuss CPCB’s role in meeting India’s Environmental Objectives and Innovative Pollution Control Strategies.

The webinar was inaugurated by Shri Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate who also released the following technical reports on the occasion :-

• A Ready Reckoner for Personnel engaged in Environment Management in Small and Medium Scale Industries. Click Here.
• National Ambient Air Quality Status and Trends 2019. Click Here.
• River Water Quality during Lockdown Period. Click Here.
• Ambient Air Quality during Lockdown Period. Click Here.

A Sewage Treatment Plant(STP) reporting Mobile Application for smooth data collection and rapid reporting from 1,641 STPs in the country was also launched by the MoS. Adequate treatment of sewage, before it is let into water bodies is very important. In this direction the STP monitoring App launched today will be an important step.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Additional Secretary, MoEF & CC in his address said that CPCB is on the forefront of efforts for a clean environment. Over the years, it has done lot of commendable works, technological upgradations and is motivated to continual improvement. AQI, NCAP & waste management initiatives will ensure more healthy and conducive environment .

Shri Shiv Das Meena, Chairman, CPCB while briefed about the achievements made by CPCB in past 46 years. He also outlined the challenges laying before the Board in ensuing future and appealed to the employees of the Board to continue to work in right earnest to meet the new environmental challenges.

Member Secretary, CPCB, Shri Prashant Gargav, presented transformative goals for 2030. He presented CPCB’s vision for revisiting approach to pollution control by revamping monitoring & analysis system, action planning guided by science, capacity building including strengthening research and development department, enhancing engagement of IT tools and future development areas to be focused on.

A panel of eminent speakers, comprising Shri C.K. Mishra, Former Secretary, MoEFCC; Shri S. P. S. Parihar and  Prof. S. P. Gautam, both Former Chairman of CPCB; Shri Shiv Das Meena, Chairman CPCB; and Ms. Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science & Environment, shared their views. They expressed admiration for CPCB’s efforts towards environmental protection and emphasized on need for revisiting its role and investing in its capacity building.

Participants included Principal Secretaries (Environment) of the States, Chairmen and Member Secretaries of State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees, Board Members of CPCB, former Member Secretaries of CPCB and Senior Officials from MoEFCC and CPCB.

6-Feb-2020: CPCB pulls up 14 coal plants

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has pulled up 14 thermal power plants for not complying with a December 31, 2019 deadline to limit sulphur dioxide emissions.

Non-compliance by the thermal power plants is an ongoing dispute being contested at the National Green Tribunal. There is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court regarding the extensions given to these plants.

The 14 plants have been asked to explain to the CPCB why they have not complied with the norms and why action should not be taken. The CPCB has the power to impose steep fines or shut a unit under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act.

To limit particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emission from thermal plants, India put in place a phased-approach that directs 440 coal-fired units — responsible for about 166,000 MW of power — to put in place measures to limit pollution by December 2022.

However, 11 plants in a 300 km radius of Delhi were to comply by December 31, 2019 because of the poor air quality in the city as well as the surrounding Gangetic plain. Some of them claimed to have set in place the process for acquiring flue-gas desulphurization technology whereas others said they were yet to award tenders. Only one of these plants has actually implemented technology to limit emissions.

Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a set of technologies used to remove sulphur dioxide (SO2) from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulphur oxide emitting processes. It is a control device that absorbs and reacts using the alkaline reagent to produce a solid compound. For a typical coal-fired power station, flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) may remove 90 percent or more of the SO2 in the flue gases.

As per Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) estimates, these norms can help reduce PM emissions by about 35%, NOx emission by about 70%, and SO2 emissions by more than 85% by 2026-27 against a business-as-usual scenario with no pollution control technologies.

17-Sep-2018: CPCB report on river pollution

The number of polluted stretches in India’s rivers has increased to 351 from 302 two years ago, and the number of critically polluted stretches — where water quality indicators are the poorest — has gone up to 45 from 34 in 28 states and six Union Territories. Based on the recommendations of the National Green Tribunal, the CPCB last month appraised the states of the extent of pollution in their rivers. This is alarming but this is not the true state of our rivers, say river experts.

The truth is much worse, when other factors (disappearing flows, increasing number of structures and diversions, sand mining, disappearing biodiversity, deleterious projects underway and planned etc.) more than mere water quality (as is the limited mandate of CPCB) are considered. Except a few uphill and select stretches of tributaries of a few major rivers, mostly all rivers are in a bad shape.

While the Rs 20,000 crore clean-up of the Ganga may be the most visible of the state’s efforts to tackle pollution, the CPCB says several of the river’s stretches — in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — are far less polluted than many rivers in Maharashtra, Assam, and Gujarat. These three states account for 117 of the 351 polluted river stretches.

This is no surprise since these are high and increasingly industrialised and urbanised states, but the increase in Assam is intriguing. Perhaps it is in Assam that the observations points have seen a greater increase.

Lack of effective waste management: A Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report of 2015, reported in the Centre for Science and Environment’s State of India’s Environment 2018 report, brought out the fact that 61,948 million litres of urban sewage is generated on a daily basis in India. But the cities have an installed sewage treatment capacity of only 38% of this.

In reality, more than this amount goes untreated into the rivers or water bodies as the treatment capacity of major sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the country is around 66% of the installed capacity as per CPCB findings of 2013. As a result, more than 38,000 million litres of wastewater goes into the major rivers, water bodies and even percolates into the ground every day. Over and above this there is industrial effluent. The data on the raw sewage from rural areas are not available.

The national obsession with ‘cleaning’ of rivers will land us only at its water quality assessment. Unfortunately, other key threats to rivers as an ecological entity are ignored. Thus the magic word should be rejuvenation and not just ‘cleaning’. This is because a clean river is an automatic corollary of a rejuvenated river. But the latter is also far more sustainable in its outcome.