March 23, 2026
Sagarika Ghose’s supplementary questions on exempting thermal power plants from installing sulphur dioxide-detecting equipment and reducing enforcement a pay-and-pollute mechanism
Mr. Chairman, Sir, 89 per cent of India’s 600 thermal power units have been exempted from installing Flue Gas Desulfurisation (FDG) systems, effectively allowing unchecked highly toxic sulfur dioxide emissions. Sulfur dioxide emissions are acidifying water bodies, destroying aquatic life and choking cities with lethal smog. Does the Government accept that this decision of exempting thermal power units from installing FDG systems is worsening air pollution, damaging water bodies and endangering public health? How does the Minister justify this large-scale dilution and is it a case of profits of industry outweighing the fundamental rights of citizens to clean air and clean water? Sir, six thermal power plants across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have openly failed to comply with the mandatory 5 per cent biomass co-firing requirement even after incurring a penalty of Rs. 62 crore under the Commission for Air Quality Management notices. Has the Government reduced this enforcement to a pay-andpollute mechanism and when will the Ministry ensure strict, time-bound compliance instead of allowing a handful of plants to undermine a policy essential to reduce stubble burning and the pollution levels in the National Capital Region?
