Tribune
News Service: Baddi: Friday, 15 August 2014.
With the
National Green Tribunal (NGT) slamming the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution
Control Board (HPSPCB) for failing to check air and water pollution in
industrial pockets of Solan district, the working of the board has come under a
scanner. Following the NGT directions, Member Secretary of the state pollution
control board Vineet Kumar has written to the Solan Deputy Commissioner, Chief
Engineer of the Irrigation and Public Health Department and Member Secretary of
the Central Pollution Control Board to finalise the date for inspecting
industrial areas of Solan district.
Some NGOs,
including Him Parivesh, have been saying that industrial units were polluting
the area. The Central Pollution Control Board also declared the area as
critically polluted as per its comprehensive environmental pollution index
ratio of 69.07, but the state authorities failed to act.
Balkrishen
Sharma, general secretary, Him Parivesh, hailed the NGT directions and said:
“This has vindicated our claim that a majority of industrial units in the
district are operating without mandatory clearance.”
He said
information sought under the RTI Act revealed that of the 2,063 units
registered in the area, only 1,131 units had the permission to operate. Out of
these, 176 units are red category units, which are the highly polluting. A
total of 104 units are running without the consent of the board, he said.
Of the 779
orange category units (causing less pollution), 440 are operating without the
consent of the board. Of the 1,108 units under the green category, 587 are
running without the board’s permission, said Sharma.
The board has
failed to upgrade its infrastructure to check air pollution, he alleged.
Though the
state pollution control board has an online clearance system, the pendency of
cases was a reflection of the lax working of the board authorities. Even the
red category units such as JP Cements and Ambuja Cements are yet to get renewal
of consent since March this year.
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