Pollution Control Board cracks whip on waste-generating units

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, December 3

Cracking the whip on 17 categories of hazardous waste generating industries which failed to provide factual data about their air and water pollution, the State Pollution Control Board has directed them to install logger data which will be integrated with the board’s centralised server.

This measure follows instructions of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) which observed that the said units had failed to provide correct inputs about their air and water pollution levels despite having introduced the online monitoring mechanism. A month’s time has been given to these units to install logger data by the state board officials who reviewed the existing online system on November 25.

“While the online system failed to synchronise with the servers installed in the state and central boards, many others were found manipulating the air and water pollution level figures while transferring the actual data to the board’s server in the present arrangement and this necessitated the need to introduce added measures,” said Brij Bhushan, Executive Engineer of the state board.

The information technology wing of the board will directly monitor the air and water pollution levels with the help of the centralised server and its information will also be simultaneously available to officials of the CPCB. Sixteen such industries fall under this category and since they emit highly toxic waste, the CPCB had ordered a 24-hour monitoring of their pollution mitigation measures. It was observed that the failure of the units to regularly run their treatment plants was causing pollution and even measures like interlocking the pollution control devices with the energy meters introduced earlier had failed to keep an effective check on their working.

He said it had also been decided that industrial units which claimed to have zero discharge on account of various treatment mechanisms introduced by them would have to install CCTVs at various sites, including the flow meters, to ensure that they toxic effluents were being effectively treated.

The CPCB had directed 17 toxic waste emitting industries manufacturing cement, paper, leather, chemical and bulk drugs to put in place an online air and water pollution mechanism which would help keep a tab on their waste disposal system. The measure was introduced following reports of laxity being adopted by such units in treating their air and water pollution-related waste.