CPCB report on steps to identify polluted industrial clusters, 05/08/2020
Consolidated report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in compliance to the National Green Tribunal order November 14, 2019 in the matter of O.A. No. 1038 of 2018 titled as News Item published in "The Asian Age" authored by Sanjay Kaw titled "CPCB to rank industrial units on pollution level".
The NGT order December 13, 2018 directed the SPCBs/Committees to finalise the time bound action plans with regard to identified polluted industrial clusters in accordance with the revised norms laid down by the CPCB to restore environmental quality. The report stated that the CPCB had taken some actions to comply with the NGT orders. These include:
1. CPCB in November 2019 asked all the concerned PCBs/PCCs to provide information on list of industries prohibited due to non compliance and details of environmental compensation
2. Mechanism was revised for allowing new projects/expansion of the red and orange category of industries in CPAs/SPAs and the same was communicated to the MoEF&CC for consideration and approval vide letter February 4, 2020
3. CPCB has revised action plans for 30 CPAs/SPAs furnished to 10 SPCBs on April 28, 2020
4. Among the 100 PIAs identified for CEPI evaluation, 38 PIAs are categorized as critically polluted areas (CPAs) and 31 PIAs are categorized as severely polluted areas (SPAs) located in 20 states/UTs
5. CPCB has tabulated the information provided by SPCBs/PCCs regarding details of non-complying industries/activities, closure directions issued, environmental compensation levided for non-compliance in the last 5 years and environmental compensation (EC) recovered
6. As per the data received from 20 SPCBs/PCCs, there are a total 5047 non-complying industries/activities, out of which 2357 non-complying industries/activities have been issued closure directions. The incidences of violation by construction activities and stubble burning have also been included by few of the SPCB in the non-complying industries/activities.
Further 6457 number of industries/activities have been reported non-complying with environmental standards in the last 5 years and Environmental Compensation of Rs. 62.696.84 lakh have been imposed on them.
Note: The CPCB report August 5, 2020 was uploaded to the NGT site March 18, 2021