Water Polluting Industries Get A Breather

A large number of water polluting industries, which were asked to either instal the requisite effluent treatment plants within three months or face closure, have received a reprieve.

The general deadline given in this regard was November 30. This has, however, been extended, but the additional time given to each industry in this regard would vary from case to case, depending on the merit of each.

This would be decided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which reports to the environment and forests ministry, in consultation with the state pollution control boards ( SPCBs).

The CPCB has directed the SPCBs through the experts committees it has set up for implementation of the scheme, to take up an industry-wise, indepth review of each defaulter in the area under their jurisdiction and suggest how the extension in each case would be justifiable.

To assess this, the SPCBs have been advised to take into account how much effort each defaulting industru is taking or has taken to take the remedial measures after it got the order for installation of the remedial facilities.

The maximum number of the grossly polluting indusrtries which are discharging their effluents in the warter courses are in Tamil Nadu 1961 out a total of 2026 in the country. The next in the line comes Uttar Pradesh471, followed by 79 in Andhra Pradesh, 49 in Haryana , 48 in Bihar, 45 in West Bengal and 37 in Kerala.

Those industries are considered grossly polluting industries which (a) discharge effluent into a water course including rivers and lakes, (b) which handle hazardous substances, (c) or in which case the basic ingredient of the effluent exceed the permissible limit, or (d) if there is a combination of (a) and (b) factors in respect the industry in question.

Erring industries to be allowed more time to instal effluent treatment plant on a case-by-case basis