Only six of the 35 highly polluting industries in the State installed online continuous stack emission monitoring system and none of the units installed the online effluent quality monitoring system till the deadline mandated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) expired in March 2015. The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) did not install necessary software and hardware for centralized data collection, analysis and corrective action. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that was tabled in the Budget Session in the Assam Assembly recently, the CPCB directed all pollution control boards (PCBs) to issue directives to all industries under the categories of highly polluting industries common effluent treatment plants, common hazardous waste and biochemical waste incinerators in order to strengthen the monitoring mechanism for effective compliance through self-regulatory mechanism. The directives are – (a) To install online Continuous Stack Emission Monitoring System (CSEMS) not later than March 31, 2015. (b) To install online Effluent Quality Monitoring System (EQMS) at the outlet of effluent treatment plants not later than March 31 2015. (c) To connect and upload the online emission and effluent monitoring data at PCBs/PCCs and CPCB server in a time-bound manner but not later than March 31 2015. (d) To ensure regular maintenance and operation of the online system with tamper-proof mechanism having facilities for online calibration. (e) To submit bank guarantee of 25 per cent of cost of online monitoring system (emission and effluent whichever is applicable) for ensuring timely installation of online monitoring systems within 90 days from the date of receipt of the directives issued by the PCBs/PCCs to the industries. Apart from these directives, the CPCB also directed that the PCBs should install the necessary software and hardware in their headquarters for centralized data collection, analysis and corrective action. The action taken report along with time-bound action plan for installation of online monitoring systems shall be submitted to the CPCB within 120 days from the date of receipt of the directives. According to the CAG report, it was observed during the audit that: * Only six of the 35 highly polluting industries installed CSEMS till March 31 2015. * Only one industry connected and uploaded the online emission monitoring data to CPCB server till March 2015. * None of the units installed the online EQMS till March 2015. * Bank guarantee had not been for ensuring timely installation of online monitoring system. * The PCBA had not installed necessary software and hardware for centralized data collection, analysis and corrective action. On being pointed out, the PCBA said that in August 2015 that those units which had not taken initiative were called for a meeting to impress upon them for implementation of the CPCB direction.