Order follows site inspections by a joint committee appointed by tribunal
Eighteen highly polluting industries in Noida have been ordered to shut down by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to comply with environment standards.
The tribunal had ordered formation of a joint committee on January 15, this year to ascertain the extent and causes for the pollution in Noida so that the tribunal has complete information of the factors causing industrial or other pollution in Noida, which according to the bench “is admittedly and certainly affecting the life of its residents”. The joint committee submitted its report in a month's time, on February 18.
A total of 3,239 industries in Noida have registered with the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), the committee reported. As per the pollution load which they add to the environment, they have been categorised red, orange and green. Thirty-five industries were inspected by the committee and the monitoring results were submitted in the tribunal. The bench said that perusal of the monitoring results in the report reveals that many of the industries are not operating within the standard parameters and that they are not complying with the standards.
Utsav Sharma, assistant environmental engineer with UPPCB, pointed out that the industries named at serial numbers 1 to 6, 8 to 10, 14, 15, 17 to 20, 26, 27 and 29 listed in Annexure-II of the report fall in red category cause maximum pollution.
The bench directed: “Considering the submissions, we direct that the industries, identified as falling in the red category in the list to stop operating till they comply with the standards prescribed and bring down the pollution load to the prescribed levels.” In the meantime, UPPCB has been directed to continue monitoring rest of the industries under red category and also all the industries listed under orange category and deal with them in accordance with law. Compliance report is to be submitted on July 11 this year.
In an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on June 29, 2012, it had been stated that Noida, whose Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) was found to be 78.90 is one amongst the 43 critical polluted areas and was ranked 12th in the list.
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