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Question raised in Lok Sabha on Pollution in Two-Tier Cities, 26/04/2016

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Pollution in Two-Tier Cities, 26/04/2016. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is monitoring ambient air quality in 74 Tier-II cities. The ambient air quality data for the period 2015 pertaining to two-tier cities in the country given at Annexure. Analysis of data shows that 41 cities exceed the ambient air quality standard. In addition these cities are also facing problem of water pollution due to discharges of untreated sewage. CPCB estimated the sewage generation from Class II towns as 2696.70 MLD and treatment capacity 233.7 MLD, leaving a wide gap of approximately 2463 MLD. Also, water quality monitoring indicates that the rivers are polluted in downstream of major urban centers due to large scale water abstraction and discharge of untreated / partially treated wastewater and not meeting the criteria. Municipal corporations are largely not able to handle the entire sewage generated from the towns with the existing infrastructure.