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The Union government, after a gap of 15 years, has decided to revise its norms to check air pollution in the country. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has introduced six new parameters, and, for the first time, has made it mandatory for industrial areas to conform to residential zone standards
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has notified the Revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), 2009, providing a legal framework for control of air pollution and protection of public health across the country. The revised norms have come 15 years after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) notified the previously existing NAAQS in 1994. The new norms are in league with those of the European Union and World Health Organisation and include five new pollutants: ozone, arsenic, nickel, benzene and benzo(a)pyrene. The existing seven parameters of suspended particulate matter (SPM), respirable particulate matter (RPM), sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and lead remain in the new norms. Though mercury has not been notified as part of the revised standards, the MoEF plans to monitor it. Importantly, the ministry has put in place uniform standards for residential and industrial areas. “We have removed the distinction between industrial areas and residential areas. Now, the standards will be uniform, whether it is classified as an industrial or residential area. There have been lower standards for air quality in industrial areas as compared to residential areas so far,” MoEF minister Jairam Ramesh announced on November 19, 2009. The announcement comes less than a month before the December 7-18 climate change summit in Copenhagen. Some 190 countries will meet in the Danish capital to try to conclude a new United Nations-backed climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012. India, among the world’s biggest polluters, has come under international pressure to curb its greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal to revise NAAQS was notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, on November 16, by the MoEF. The CPCB has initiated the process of harmonising its notification under the Air Act, 1981, with the revised notification so as to ensure efficient implementation of the new standards. “The National Environment Protection Authority and the National Green Tribunal will ensure the effective enforcement of these standards,” Ramesh said. “Action will be taken against anyone flouting these norms.” Professor Nishikant Kale, an expert on climate change, said that the decision should have been taken long ago. “We are 10 years behind the European Union. The norms should be implemented in at least 45 cities in India, not just the four metros,” he added. “We hope to see carbon dioxide as well in the list in the near future.” Debi Goenka of the Mumbai-based Conservation Action Trust welcomed the decision. “Till date, the standards were set only for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and SPM. Now that carcinogenic gases like arsenic, nickel, benzene and benzo(a)pyrene have been added to the list it should help in controlling air pollution,” he said. “But for that, the norms have to be strictly implemented.” Source: Business Standard, November 19, 2009
DNA, November 19, 2009
AFP, November 19, 2009
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