As told to Parliament (December 4, 2023): PM10 concentration improved in 90 out of 131 cities

Air quality in 90 out of 131 cities has shown improvement in terms of annual fine particulate matter (PM) 10 concentrations in 2022-23 with respect to the baseline of 2017-18, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of state in the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change told the Lok Sabha. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 (60 µg/m3) were met by 15 cities in 2022-23.

Rejuvenation of lakes in Bengaluru

A total of 204 lakes are under the control of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), according to information provided by the Karnataka government, Bhupender Yadav, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, told the Lok Sabha.

Of these lakes, 114 have been developed and 38 have been taken up for development. Further, 33 lakes are undeveloped and 19 are disused. 

Compensatory afforestation

Compensatory afforestation has been carried out on 10,29,339.40 hectares, or 1.03 million hectares, against the diverted forest land of 1.02 million hectares, according to information received from the states and Union territories, Choubey told the Lok Sabha.

Human-animal conflict

Incidences of human-wildlife conflict have been reported from various parts of the country. The maximum number of human deaths due to elephants were reported in Jharkhand (133), followed by Odisha (112) in 2021-22, according to the environment ministry reports, Choubey told the Lok Sabha.

Road map for mixing ethanol in petrol and diesel 

The National Policy of Biofuels notified on June 4, 2018 provided indicative targets of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol and 5 per cent biodiesel blending in diesel by 2030, Rameswar Teli, minister of state in the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas told the Rajya Sabha. 

Encouraged by the performance in the last seven years under the ethanol blending programme, the government decided to advance the targets of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26. 

The Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-25, prepared by an interministerial committee, estimated an ethanol requirement of 1,016 crore litres to achieve 20 per cent blending targets in ESY 2025-26, Teli said.

Status of waterbody rejuvenation in Odisha

The first census of waterbodies by the Union ministry of Jal Shakti has calculated a total 182,000 waterbodies in Odisha, out of which 97.9 per cent are in rural areas, Bishweswar Tudu, minister of state for Jal Shakti told the Rajya Sabha 

Of these woterbodies, 77.6 per cent have a water spread area less than 0.5 hectare, while 11.6 per cent have water spread area of 0.5-1 hectare. A total of 1,390 waterbodies from Odisha have been taken up for renovation under the central scheme Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Har Khet Ko Pani, out of which 458 are reported to be complete.

Tap water connection to households

When the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced, 32.3 million (17 per cent) rural households were reported to have tap water connections, Prahlad Singh Patel, minister of state for Jal Shakti told the Rajya Sabha. Through November 29, 2023, as reported by states / Union territories, around 104.6 million additional rural households have been provided with tap water connections.

Thus, as of November 29, 2023, out of 192.4 million rural households in the country, around 136.9 million (71 per cent) households are reported to have tap water supply in their homes, Patel added.

Reducing arsenic levels in groundwater

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) generates the groundwater quality data of the country, including Tamil Nadu, on a regional scale as part of its groundwater quality monitoring programme and various scientific studies, Tudu told the Rajya Sabha. 

These studies indicate the occurrence of arsenic in groundwater beyond permissible limits set by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for human consumption in isolated pockets in various states / Union territories, including Tamil Nadu. 

Arsenic has been reported in parts of 230 districts in 25 states. In Tamil Nadu, out of 1,208 groundwater samples, only 16 samples (1.3 per cent) were found to have arsenic above the BIS limits, Tudu said.

Governance India