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Government says no minor or medium irrigation project is pending with the environment ministry for clearance.
Most urban local bodies have filed plastic waste compliance reports, but several panchayats and pollution boards are yet to submit data.
Bengaluru’s clean air action plan focuses on dust control, traffic decongestion and clean mobility measures.
India generated nearly 14 lakh metric tonnes of e-waste in 2024–25, with over 11.5 lakh tonnes recycled.
Mangrove restoration and sewage treatment capacity expansion are underway through MISHTI and AMRUT programmes.
Groundwater monitoring in Punjab shows mixed trends, with around 57% of wells recording a rise and 43% showing decline.
Irrigation projects, irrespective of their culturable command area, are categorised as ‘B’ category and appraised at the state level by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for the grant of Environmental Clearance (EC), as per the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, as amended, Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told the Lok Sabha.
However, in cases where the general condition is applicable under the EIA Notification, 2006, such projects are treated as Category A and are appraised at the central level.
No minor or medium irrigation project is pending with the ministry at the central level for the grant of EC. Further, no minor or medium irrigation project has been granted EC by the ministry at the central level during the current year so far, Singh added.
The Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified on March 14, 2024, require every urban local body, Panchayat at the district level, and State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee (PCC) to prepare and submit an annual report in the prescribed form online, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
According to information available on the online portal for submission of annual reports under the rules, out of 4,972 urban local bodies, 4,858 have submitted online annual reports for the year 2024-25.
Similarly, out of 665 district panchayats, 586 have submitted their online annual reports for 2024-25. Among the 36 SPCBs/PCCs, 23 have submitted their reports online.
Bengaluru has been included as a non-attainment city under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to improve air quality through the implementation of city action plans, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
A source apportionment study has been conducted for Bengaluru to identify the sources of pollution.
The city’s action plan focuses on source-specific interventions targeting road dust control, construction and demolition activities, decongestion of traffic junctions, greening of open spaces and medians, mitigation measures at identified hotspots, deployment of mechanical road sweeping machines, and promotion of clean mobility.
An annual action plan for FY 2025-26 has also been prepared to implement air quality improvement measures.
E-waste generation in the country has been assessed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at the national level based on the average life of 106 notified electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), as mandated under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, and countrywide sales data for the relevant financial year, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
This data relates to the 106 EEE listed in Schedule I of the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, and is provided by registered producers on the E-Waste Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Portal.
According to the CPCB, 13,97,955.59 metric tonnes (MT) of e-waste were generated and 11,59,228.25 MT were recycled during the financial year 2024-25.
Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), 890 sewerage and septage management projects worth Rs 34,505 crore have been grounded. These have created 4,447 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage treatment capacity (new or augmented), of which 1,437 MLD has been developed for recycling and reuse, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
Under AMRUT 2.0, 592 sewerage and septage projects worth Rs 67,607.67 crore have been approved so far by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
These approved projects cover 6,739 MLD of sewage treatment capacity (new or augmented), of which 2,093 MLD is for recycling and reuse.
As announced in the Union Budget 2023-24, the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) was launched to restore and expand mangroves and enhance coastal ecosystem resilience, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
An amount of Rs 88.44 crore has been released through National CAMPA to six coastal states and Union territories — Gujarat, West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Puducherry — for the restoration of 9,536 hectares of degraded mangroves.
In Andhra Pradesh, Rs 13.077 crore has been released through National CAMPA for the restoration of 1,401 hectares across six divisions, including 500 hectares in the Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema division.
According to state inputs, 1,280 hectares have been brought under restoration under the MISHTI scheme, Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Lok Sabha.
Forest cover assessment is carried out through wall-to-wall mapping based on remote sensing, supported by intensive ground verification and field data from the National Forest Inventory, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, forest cover in the hill districts of the country is 2,83,713.20 square kilometres, which constitutes 40 per cent of the total geographical area of these districts.
Between ISFR 2021 and ISFR 2023, forest cover in the hill districts increased by 234.14 square kilometres.
The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) monitors groundwater levels across the country, including in Punjab, four times a year — during March/April/May, August, November and January, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary told the Rajya Sabha.
District-wise groundwater level data (in metres below ground level) for post-monsoon 2025 indicates that about 43.44 per cent of the monitored wells recorded water levels in the 0-10 metre range.
To assess long-term fluctuations, the water level data collected by the CGWB for Punjab during post-monsoon 2025 was compared with the decadal mean for post-monsoon (2015-2024).
The comparison shows that approximately 57 per cent of the monitored wells registered a rise in groundwater levels, mostly in the 0-2 metre range, while about 43 per cent of wells showed a decline.