Bhubaneswar, March 14: The Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has issued closure directions to 233 industries non-complying with the prescribed environmental standards, according to official sources.
As per information received, there are a total of 13,256 industries in Odisha. Out of these industries, 12,156 industries are operational. The State Pollution Control Board has conducted a total of 9,614 inspections of industries in the last three years.
Among these industries, 922 industries are found non-complying with the prescribed environmental standards, against which actions like closure directions, show cause notices and other directives and legal cases were taken by the Board during the last three years, officials said.
They informed that Closure Directions has been issued against 233 industries while Show Cause Notices slapped on 241 industries; other directives issued to 422 units; and legal cases filed against 26 other industries by the Odisha SPCB, as per the provisions of the Environmental laws.
Similarly, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) identified severely and other polluted industrial areas in Odisha based on Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI), namely Ib-valley, Paradeep, Jajpur, Angul Talcher and Jharsuguda Industrial areas. Action plans for reducing the CEPI score in these industrial areas have been prepared and implemented by Odisha State Pollution Control Board.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) regulate air and water quality by enactment of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and notified different Rules, Regulations based on the said acts to implement various Schemes for protection and development of air and water bodies.
The State Pollution Control Board, through the Consent mechanism under Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981, monitors the establishment and operation of industries and polluting activities through prescription of pollution control measures and monitoring the compliance of environmental standards, the officials said.
To strengthen enforcement and ensure compliance with environmental standards, CPCB has issued directions u/s 18(1)(b) of the Water and the Air Act to all SPCBs/PCCs to inspect Red, Orange, and Green categories of industries at a minimum inspection frequency of 6 months, 1 year and 2 years, for verification of compliance of environmental norms.
The SPCB has taken several steps to strengthen monitoring and real-time pollution control systems in the State: which includes installation of Continuous Emission Monitoring Stations (CEMS)/ Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS)/ Continuous Effluent Quality Monitoring Stations (CEQMS)/ HD IP Cameras in all 17 categories and large-scale industries and mines and data transmission to SPCB.
The Board has set up a dedicated online monitoring cell at head office in Bhubaneswar and developed Regional Environmental Monitoring and Data Analysis Centre (REMDAC) at all the Regional Offices for Realtime data monitoring.
The SPCB has also developed a Portal for Realtime Acquisition System for Analysis & Reporting (PRASAR) dashboard for easy assessment of Environmental Compliances in terms of the emission and discharge.
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