365telugu.com online news,delhi,april 4th,2022:Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) issued direction under Section 18(1)(b) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to all State Pollution Control Board (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs)  to further direct industries for installation of online monitoring system in highly polluting 17 categories of industries/Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs)/ Biomedical facility/common hazardous waste facility.

Further, under section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, CPCB has also issued directions to all the industries falling under 17 categories of highly polluting industries to install online continuous emission/effluent monitoring system and ensure connectivity of data to SPCBs/PCCs and CPCB servers.

CPCB directed SPCBs/PCCs to issue closure directions to existing industries falling under 17 categories of industries and common treatment facilities, commissioned on or before 28.02.2017 if found operating without installation and connectivity of OCEMS. SPCBs/PCCs were also directed to incorporate a specific condition of installing and connecting OCEMS before start of operation in the Consent Order (CTO) of a newly established industry falling under 17 categories of industries and common treatment facilities, commissioned after 28.02.2017.

During 2014-2022, out of 4247 industrial units, 3535 industries have installed and connected OCEMS to CPCB and SPCB server. The closure directions for remaining 712 industries are still in-force. The purpose of the direction was to create self-regulation and monitoring by the industries themselves for complying with the stipulated standards. Sector-wise status regarding connectivity of OCEMS is attached at Annexure-I.

From these OCEMS, real-time values of environmental pollutants of trade effluent and emissions from industrial units are transmitted online to the server of CPCB and concerned SPCB/PCC on 24×7 basis. Central software processes the data and in case of value of pollutant parameter exceeds prescribed environmental norms, an automatic SMS alert is generated and sent to industrial unit, SPCB and CPCB, so that corrective measures can be taken by the industry immediately and appropriate action can be taken by concerned SPCB/PCC.

There are total 4,433 highly polluting 17-categories of industries in the country.  Appropriate actions are taken against non-complying units. State-wise status of 17 categories of highly polluting industries is given at Annexure-II.

Government has taken various initiatives towards control of pollution caused by industrial sector which are as follow:

  • Notification of industry-specific discharge standards under Schedule-I: ‘Standards for Emission or Discharge of Environmental Pollutants from various Industries’ of Environment Protection Act, 1986. SPCB and PCCs are mandated to ensure the compliance of these standards. So far, industry specific environmental standards, for about 80 industrial sectors, have been notified.  
  • The SPCBs/PCCs issue consent to establish/ consent to operate and authorization to the industries in the States. Also, the SPCBs/PCCs monitor the compliance of industrial emissions/effluent discharges and other operational activities according to the prescribed standards.
  • Since 2016, CPCB has started inspection of 17 categories of highly polluting industries on the basis of SMS alerts generated on violation of effluent and emission standards. In case of non-compliance, action against industry is taken under provisions of Water Act, 1974, Air Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
  • The criteria for categorization of industries has been revised and directed all SPCBs/PCCs to adopt the same. 254 industrial sectors are categorized into red (61), orange (90), green (65) and white (38) categories.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

ANNEXURE – I

Sector-wise Status of Installation of OCEMS
S. No.SectorTotal no. of targeted units for OCEMS installationTotal No. of units installed OCEMS and connected with CPCB serverTotal No. of units against which closure directions u/s 5 of E(P)A, 1986 are in force
1Aluminium14122
2Cement39430193
3Chloralkali33330
4Copper330
5Distillery36628581
6Dye & Dye Intermediates1229626
7Fertilizer1179621
8Iron & Steel42435866
9Pesticide827111
10Petrochemical36306
11Pharmaceuticals774673101
12Pulp & Paper30724562
13Refinery23230
14Sugar646498148
15Tannery45841741
16Thermal Power Plant44339152
17Zinc532
Total42473535712

Annexure-II

Compliance Status of  17 Category of Industries
Sl. No.SPCB/PCCTotal no. of industriesNo. of industries closed  by their ownNo. of industries operationalNo. of industries complying with environmental standardsNo. of industries non-complying with environmental standardsNo. of industries against which action is  taken for non-complying with environmental standards
1Andaman & Nicobar000000
2Andhra Pradesh296342622342828
3Arunachal Pradesh505500
4Assam5111403644
5Bihar4326171700
6Chandigarh000000
7Chhattisgarh1632014313766
8Daman & Diu303300
9Delhi321100
10Goa152131211
11Gujarat517764413449797
12Haryana174816616155
13Himachal Pradesh213181800
14Jammu & Kashmir550555233
15Jharkhand81279542525
16Karnataka246471991841515
17Kerala255202000
18Lakshadweep000000
19Madhya Pradesh965918833
20Maharashtra506324744344040
21Manipur000000
22Meghalaya231222111
23Mizoram220000
24Nagaland000000
25Odisha186431431261717
26Puducherry734400
27Punjab9822767155
28Rajasthan1971318418133
29Sikkim000000
30Tamil Nadu2394119819444
31Telangana344472972682929
32Tripura505411
33Uttar Pradesh8551966596461313
34Uttarakhand460464244
35West Bengal1313497732424
 Total443367537583430328328