The 88 industrial clusters identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) will be re-verified for the amount of pollution they generate, on the basis of which they will be re-rated.

“No environmental clearances are being given to clusters that are rated above 70. We will do a microanalysis of the critically polluted areas. If the rating is below 70, then new industries can be put up there,” CPCB Chairman S P Gautam told Business Standard.

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The ratings are done on the basis of a Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI), which captures the various health dimensions of environment, including air, water and land at a given location. The earlier rating was done on the basis of results found in 2007-08 after a comprehensive environmental assessment was carried out in the country.

“The objective is to identify polluted industrial clusters or areas in order to take a concerted action and to centrally monitor them at the national level to improve the current status of their environmental components such as air and water quality data, ecological damage, and visual environmental conditions,” said Gautam.

Though the time line for rerating has not decided, it might be done by the end of this year in collaboration with the respective state pollution control boards (SPCB), expert agencies like the Indian Institutes of Technology and the zonal officers.

The polluted areas or industrial clusters were given a moratorium till August so that CPCB, in consultation with the respective SPCBs and industrial bodies could draw a time-bound action plan for reducing the pollution level in these areas.

CPCB also plans to make this verification and rating exercise a biennial one, so that the increase in the number of industrial clusters can be monitored, besides their latitudinal and longitudinal spread.

The board is also coming out with a Global Positioning System (GPS) environment monitoring system in four-five months to map the pollution load of different industries and areas.

“The geospatial-based information system will see the emission dropout and the emission intensity of the dissipation on an hourly basis. The data collected will be used to see the cumulative impact of pollution on the environment and how many new industries can be put up,” said Gautam.

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