Government Rejects Study on Pollution The Government today rejected the study on pollution published in the Geophysical Research Letters Journal of the American Geophysical Union. The following is the text of the statement made by Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, here today: We reject the claims made in the so-called research article that Indians lose six years of their lives because of pollution. The Ministry of Earth Sciences does not agree with the study and has completely rejected the study. The Ministry of Earth Sciences has made it clear that it does not subscribe to any of the conclusions emerging out of the reported study. The study is based on regional atmospheric chemistry model and statistical algorithm to construct estimates and this is based on studies in Europe and America, which have been extrapolated on India. This study has not been done on sampling, it has not been done on ground studying and it is not based on long-term observations. The Government is serious about tackling pollution. India recognises pollution as a major problem and we are tackling it very seriously. But there are other pollutants also that are harmful to health. Ozone is a pollutant that has an adverse impact on life and which is predominantly present in California. NOx is another pollutant, which is present much more in Mexico, UAE and China, than in India. SOx is also another pollutant that is serious. Every pollutant adversely affects health. So, on different pollutants, countries have different experiences and different status. But we recognise that in India, because of the neglect over the last ten years, the pollution problem has become serious, particularly in cities. This arises out of four reasons vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, biomass burning and improper waste disposal and dust. The Government is tackling all these issues on a priority basis. We have pre-poned migration to Bharat VI norms for fuel and vehicles, both petrol and diesel. The quality will be international in four years. Earlier, it was planned in 2024. We have pre-poned it to 2020, we are investing Rs.60, 000 crore for improving the quality of fuel. Vehicles will be Bharat VI compliant norms. The notification has already been issued. This will reduce vehicular pollution by 90% by 2020 in one thousand days from now. So, this is a very important initiative. To tackle dust, Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules have been formulated for the first time. Within the next six months, it will be implemented in all the major cities and will be implemented throughout the country in one years time. We are building capacities and we will not allow the debris to be thrown anywhere and all dust-related activities will have to be undertaken with a cover along with full mitigation measures. So, there will be no dust pollution. All other Waste Management Rules have been revamped. As a result of the efforts, Punjab could reduce biomass burning by 40% and Haryana by 20%. We will take it further in the next two years. As for checking industrial pollution, we have made emission norms more stringent for all industries. It will reduce the pollution load on all industries. We are monitoring it on a 24x7 basis through a transparent technology. Therefore, we are tackling pollution-related issues very effectively, which had not been addressed for the last 10 years. For Delhi also, we are taking the cooperation of five states and we are putting up bypasses."
