(a) whether India has fallen steep down to 177th place from 141st position in recently released global Environmental Performance Index (EPI);
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government has taken steps to implement the existing environmental laws and regulations strictly in order to restore environmental quality in the country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof? |
| ANSWER |
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)
(a) & (b):A report has been produced by Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Yale University, and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, entitled ‘Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2018. The report ranks 180 countries. As per the report, India’s ranking in Global Environment Performance Index (EPI) was 141 in 2016 and177 in 2018. The rankings need to be interpreted in due perspective as it is based on distinct methodology and involves various assumptions and uncertainties. The methodology adopted to calculate EPI in 2018 varies from the earlier adopted methodology. The 2016 EPI report included 9 issues and 20 indicators. However, 2018 EPI report includes 10 issues and 24 indicators. The 2018 EPI gives a weight of 40% to Environmental Health and 60% to Ecosystem Vitality. India’s overall score for environmental health policy objective has shown substantial improvement. The decrease in score is on account of ecosystem vitality, which has been given higher weightage and at the same time, has higher subjectivity. India with high population would indicate higher exposure level in the absence of proper normalization.
(c) & (d):The Government has taken a number of steps to enhance implementation of existing environmental laws and regulations in order to restore environmental quality in the country. These include, promotion of 24x7 real time online monitoring of emission and effluents of 17 categories of highly polluting industries, real time water quality monitoring through 44 monitoring stations on river Ganga and two on Yamuna, and 100 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations in 61 cities. Further, inspections are carried out by field functionaries of Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Boards and Regional Headquarters from time to time to improve the implementation of existing laws and regulations. |
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