Bad air

As per the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI), Korba is the fifth most polluted district in the country. Korba, Raipur and Bhilai-Durg are the severely polluted areas in Chhattisgarh. As per CECB, in 2008, the suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the ambient air of Raipur's Siltara industrial area and respirable particulate matter (RPM) in Urla industrial area crossed the permissible limit of 500 microgramme/ m3 of SPM and 150 microgramme/ m3 of RPM, respectively.

The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) of Nagpur carried out the study in three industrial estates— Siltara, Borjhara-Urla and Urla and Raipur city. The study estimated the total SPM emissions per day at 1,360 tonnes with 47 per cent contribution of the Urla estate alone. Siltara and Borjhara-Urla contributed 37 and 16 per cent, respectively.

MLA Devji Bhai Patel said the entire state should now be made a no-go area for industries. As yet the only move is to hold back projects in the critically polluted areas. What does the state do when all its areas are fast becoming critically polluted? How does regulation work to assess the cumulative impact?