Pollution board seeks report from field staff about Paonta steel unit

Ambika Sharma

Solan, October 16

Irate villages of Dhaula Kuan in Paonta Sahib subdivision of Sirmaur district have demanded strict action against a steel manufacturing unit for failing to check air pollution from its premises.

The villagers have been agitating against the unit for the last nine days at Dhaula Kuan. Smoke being let out of the unit throughout the day was affecting their health, besides causing large-scale air pollution. It was adversely affecting their crops, the villagers said.

Sumit Khimta, DC, Sirmaur, had constituted a three-member committee to examine the issue last week. ‘The committee, which submitted its report today, noted that its fugitive emission owing to various in-house processes was the key cause of air pollution,” informed Khimta.

He added that the unit had been directed not to purchase any foam mattress and procure extracted wire as raw material for its induction furnace. It has also been directed to ensure proper cleaning of carbon particles stuck in the winch machines before charging in the induction furnace.

Anil Joshi, Member Secretary, State Pollution Control Board (PCB), when quizzed, said the field staff had been directed to check the ambient air quality of the unit regularly and submit a fact-finding report on the air pollution. “Since the local community has raised an issue of air pollution, their grievance will be addressed.”

Was under NGT scanner

• The pollution emanating from the unit was also under the scanner of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the past also.
• The tribunal had directed it to implement measures like planting tall trees around the boundary to ensure natural barrier for the air pollution, installing online continuous emission monitoring system for particulate matter, installing CCTVs to keep an eye of fugitive emission, among other measures.
• The committee, while inspecting the unit, noted that these measures had been put in place, informed the DC.