New Delhi: Pollution level in ten major
industrial hubs in the country, including some in Gujarat and
Uttar Pradesh has reached to a "very alarmingly" level,
according to a study.
The hubs in the top ten list are located in Ankleshwar
and Vapi in Gujarat, Ghaziabad and Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh),
Korba (Chhattisgarh), Chandrapur (Maharashtra) and Ludhiana in
Punjab, Vellore in Tamil Nadu, Bhiwadi in Rajasthan and Angul
Telcher in Orissa.
"Many of these areas have already exhausted their
capacity. We might put on hold new approvals in these ten
polluted hotspots till their environmental health is
restored," said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh after
releasing a report on "Comprehensive environmental assessment
of industrial clusters" here.
The study, a first of its kind, has been prepared by
IIT-Delhi along with the Central Pollution Control Board
(CPCB), ranking the 88 industrial clusters across the country
on Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) on the
basis of water, land and air pollution.
The clusters have been ranked on a scale of 0-100,
based on their sensitivity towards the environment with ten of
them topping the infamous list by scoring above 80 indicating
the high level of metals and effluent discharged by them in
the nearby rivers and region.
Thirty-three industrial hubs have scored between 70-80
and categorised as "critically" polluted, at least 32 others
scored between 60-70 and tagged as "seriously" polluted
clusters while 10 in the score of 50-60 are in the "warning"
zones.
"The idea is to identify them in order to take concerted
action and to centrally monitor them at the national level to
improve the current status of their environmental components
such as air and water quality," Ramesh said.
Subsequently, the CPCB along with State PCBs have been
asked to prepare an action plan for the 43 industrial clusters
including ten "very alarmingly" and 33 "most severely"
polluted areas within next three months, he said.
Such environmental assessment will be done once in a two
year.
The scientists who have developed yardsticks have
assessed all available data on issues like water and air
pollution, biodiversity conservation, land degradation,
ecological damage and waste management.
"I will soon approach the Finance Commission for fund for
clean-up programmes in these clusters," Ramesh said, adding
that efforts are also on to study the health impact from such
critically polluted clusters.
PTI
