NGT asks MoEF to form action plan on industrial pollution

New Delhi: Taking note of the report, “CPCB to rank industrial units on pollution levels,” which was published by this newspaper on December 6, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) to form an action plan on the basis of the revised comprehensive environmental pollution index (CEPI) to bring down the pollution levels in various industrial clusters across the country.

The report said that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had started a process to rank 88 industrial clusters across the country based on their pollution levels.

The report said that the CPCB has recently completed the analysis of the pollution levels based on air and water quality and hazardous waste generated by these clusters.

A bench headed by the NGT chairperson, AK Goel, also asked the ministry to include the action plan about how the expansion could be made in the existing industries. The ministry has been asked to submit a report before the tribunal by May 31, 2019.

The bench directed all state pollution control boards and pollution control committees in the Union Territories to upload the status of pollution in the industrial corridors on their websites. It also asked all chief secretaries to regularly review environmental issues, including pollution, in their states and submit a report before the tribunal.

After completion of the process of ranking industrial clusters for pollution levels, the Central government will form a comprehensive action plan to bring down pollution in these areas.

According to the news report, the state pollution control committees and the CPCB had conducted surveys in 2009-10 to check pollution levels in the 88 notified industrial clusters. Thereafter, the CPCB had ranked these clusters under ‘critical’ and ‘serious’ categories.