Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters

Critically polluted industrial areas are not just an environmental challenge, but they are a public health challenges. 85% of big industrial clusters in India are health hazards as air, water and land pollution levels are not fit for human habitants. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) released a study Criteria for Comprehensive Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters ranking the environmental pollution in 88 industrial clusters across the country. 

The study formulates a comprehensive environment pollution index (CEPI) on the basis of water, land and air pollution. All available data on water and air pollution, biodiversity conservation, land degradation, ecological damage and waste management has been used to make this assessment. The exercise would be undertaken once in two years.

The study, Comprehensive environmental assessment of industrial clusters, undertaken by IIT Delhi and the CPCB, found that the environmental pollution levels in 10 major industrial hubs had reached a “very alarmingly high” level. This list includes Ankleshwar and Vapi in Gujarat , Ghaziabad and Singrauli in Uttar Pradesh, Korba (Chhattisgarh), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Ludhiana (Punjab), Vellore (Tamil Nadu), Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) and Angul Talcher (Orissa).

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) identified 24 critically polluted areas earlier based on scientific criteria and design Action Plans for each area. CPCB has identified another 36 clusters/ areas which have been reported as having significant industrial activities and related environmental pollution problems. CPCB will define critically polluted area based on the Environmental parameters index and prioritization of economically feasible solution through adequate action plan formulation for environmental sustainability problem area faces. Now the exercise will be done in measurement, monitoring and modeling, thus capturing various dimensions of pollution, in some states to know how the course of pollution is going to evolve. Base level information will be gathered so that a robust methodology can be developed after this exercise

Air Quality Index, Water Quality Index and Land Quality Index can be recorded, but there is always a danger in the uni-dimensional index approach and one might loose some information embedded into it. The practical suggestion would be to evolve an EPI index like western countries where literacy, life expectancy, per capita income etc. are included.

The problem in most critically polluted areas is highly serious, as the effluent from industries is discharged at night. Villages in polluted areas of Vapi and Ankleshwar in Gujarat have not seen clean drinking water since a long time and water in Vapi Town is not potable. High degree of asthma cases and irritation, particularly in eyes are prevalent among people.

CPCB initiated a programme to identify problem area from pollution point of view for taking concerted action and for being centrally monitored at the national level to improve the environment such as air and water quality data, public complaints, ecological damage, and visual environmental conditions Central Pollution Control Boards (CPCBs) and Sate Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) prepared a list of the potential area. The issue was discussed in depth in the 29th Conference of Chairmen and Member Secretaries of SPCBs/PCCs held in May 1989, and 10 critically Polluted Areas (CPAs) were identified to evolve a comprehensive time bound programme for each of the problem areas with respect to improvement of air and water quality. 14 more areas got added subsequently making the total number of identified CPAs as 24. An Action Plan will be prepared for the industrial clusters/ areas which would be identified as CPAs. These Action Plans will help in prevention and control of pollution and to restore the environmental quality of CPAs. Action Plans shall be prepared with the help of all the stakeholders and after determining the comparative effectiveness of alternate plans and policies.

EPI is a rational number to characterize the quality of the environment at a given location following the algorithm of source, pathway and receptor. As the EPI increases, an increasingly large percentage of the population is likely to experience increasingly severe adverse health effects. Environmental aspects are identified and assets of core pollutants adopted for each industrial cluster are created.

Source: pib.nic.in