Chandigarh, Mar 28 (PTI) The Haryana government has been taking various measures to control air pollution that include action against the units violating norms, Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh said in the Assembly on Friday.
Singh said inspections for air pollution are carried out by officers of the Haryana Station Pollution Control Board and requisite action is being taken.
Large scale awareness activities have been carried out. The HSPCB has closed 480 industries and imposed environmental compensation of approximately Rs 35 crore on industries causing air pollution in 2023 and 2024, he said.
The minister was replying to a Calling Attention Motion of Congress members, including Aditya Surjewala and Kuldeep Vats, seeking to draw the attention of the House towards a matter of urgent public importance "regarding the dangerously poor AQI in Haryana across 24 cities situated in and around NCR, and the state's significant lapse in data collection and reporting".
"I would like to inform that the government is very much concerned about the problem of air pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of 24 cities of Haryana is not dangerously poor as mentioned in the Calling Attention Notice, though it is exceeding the allowed limits.
"The yearly AQI has been less than 200 which comes in the moderate category. However, it exceeded 200 for Faridabad and Gurugram in the years 2023 and 2024," Singh said.
Surjewala said air pollution is caused by various factors, including construction, vehicular pollution, and mining, but only farmers are blamed when some of them burn stubble.
The minister said the government has been collecting air quality data for eight Government of India notified parameters out of 12, except for Rohtak and Panchkula, with Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) and 10 notified parameters with Manual Air Quality Monitoring Station (MAAQMS).
Singh said the stubble burning incidents have come down from 12,657 in 2017 to 1,406 in 2024 in the paddy season and from 4,747 in 2017 to 3,155 in 2024 in the wheat season.
Besides the above measures, several remedial measures have also been undertaken. The government has deployed 122 anti-smog guns, 255 water sprinklers and 62 mechanised road-sweeping machines to curb dust emissions, he said.
Further, the Haryana government has proposed Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development supported by the World Bank at a cost of Rs 3,647 crore up to 2030, he said.