Jharkhand High Court today pulled up the state pollution board for failing to take action against industries for harming the environment in and around Dhanbad and asked its Delhi bosses to consider intervening to save the coal capital. A division bench of acting Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice S. Chandrashekhar, while hearing a PIL filed by one Vishal Kumar on pollution caused by industries in Dhanbad, noted that the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board had failed in its duties. Hence, the bench directed the Central Pollution Control Board to inform the court whether, according to Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, it could take up the work of a state body and take action against units that were guilty of violating the law. Kumar’s counsel Mahesh Tiwary informed the court that the state pollution board had not taken any action against industries which caused pollution. He named Maithon Power Limited as one of the worst offenders in Dhanbad, adding that the fly ash discharged from the power generating company had formed a blanket that had adversely impacted agriculture in adjoining areas. He said Dhanbad had become one of the most polluted cities of the country with the number of patients suffering from tuberculosis and lung ailments having spiralled as a result of the foul air. Tiwary also pointed out that the state pollution board had not been successful in closing down any polluting industry. The bench then asked the state board about action taken against polluting units and industries in the area. It also sought to know if any report has been prepared against coal mines and washeries operating in the district for discharging effluents in the Damodar River. The judges then directed the board to compile pollution data by frequently collecting samples from areas where industries were located. Frequent sampling, they noted, would help understand the rate of pollution and devise ways to tackle the presence of toxic matter in the air and water. The next hearing is on August 19. In his PIL, Kumar said that over one lakh tonne raw coal was burnt every day in Dhanbad by factories to produce hard coke, resulting in widespread pollution that led to diseases like leprosy and cancer, which along with lung ailments, had become extremely common in Dhanbad.