Getting Stricter, NGT Directs to Shut Down Polluting Industries Within Three Months

New Delhi, July 17: Getting stricter on pollution issue, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to shut down polluting industries coming under "critically polluted" and "severely polluted" areas within three months.

 

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the CPCB to assess, in coordination with the state pollution control boards, the quantum of compensation to be recovered from polluting units for the period of last five years, taking into account the cost of restoration and cost of damage to the public health and environment and the deterrence element.

On the basis of a study jointly carried out by the CPCB and state pollution control boards in 2009-10, industrial clusters were notified as Polluted Industrial Areas (PIAs) and they were ranked depending upon the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index scores.

 

The study unveils that 88 industrial clusters were notified as Polluted Industrial Areas (PIAs) and were ranked as Critically Polluted Area (CPA), Severely Polluted Area (SPA) and Other Polluted Areas (OPAs). This categorization has been made on the basis of Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) scores. Where the CEPI score crosses 70, the areas are designated as CPAs. Areas where the index is in between 60-70 are designated as SPAs while those below 60 are designated as OPAs.