The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) received Rs 1,52,6250 from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2015-16 under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP), the Central Government has informed.
The monitoring of air pollution in mega cities and towns is carried out under the under the scheme “National Air Quality Monitoring Programme” (NAMP) through Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) / Pollution Control Committee (PCCs) of UTs, officials informed.
Technical discussions have been held with Environment Protection Agency, United States of America, regarding air quality management in the country.
Pollution management related to transport and industries is carried out through emissions and effluents norms laid down by the Government. There are 56 emission and 45 effluent standards in respect of 77 categories of industries.
The emission norms for transport sector are laid down by Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The management of air pollution due to road dust is regulated under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.With regard to implementation of specific projects for transport and industry pollution management, Government has not excluded option of public private partnership.
Notably, CECB had recently directed a total of 44 Rolling Mills near Raipur city to shut down their units immediately following their not installing the mandatory ‘online emission monitoring’ systems.
The Board has also directed officials to cut power supply to the erring mills immediately, officials informed.
This was informed in a meeting chaired by Principal Secretary, Housing and Environment Aman Kumar Singh in Raipur on Monday. Raipur District Collector O P Choudhary and Raipur Municipal Commissioner Rajat Bansal were present in the meeting among other senior officials in Raipur.
This is by far the biggest action taken by CECB against units which had not abided by the stringent pollution control norms.
Chhattisgarh is among 16 other states in the country which had implemented advanced automated solutions to deal with environmental and pollution related applications and approvals, the Central Government has informed.
These solutions provide hassle free, 24 X 7 'e-access' to businesses to apply online, track applications, file returns and statements and get online permissions under various Acts and regulations.
The states include-- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.
Notably, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in partnership with the World Bank Group had released the results of the Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms 2015-16.
The Assessment studies extent to which states have implemented DIPP’s 340-point Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) for States/UTs 2015-16, covering the period July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
The BRAP includes recommendations for reforms on 58 regulatory processes, policies, practices or procedures spread across 10 reform areas spanning the life cycle of a typical business.
There has been significant progress this year in the area of judicial reforms compared to last year, particularly due to the passage of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Divisions and Commercial Appellate Divisions Act.
To address the concern of time and costs associated with various legal processes, District Courts in various states have also made the provision of making online payments, e-filing and e-summons. Few States have also filled up vacancies in District Courts/commercial courts to ensure availability of adequate capacity for dealing with various cases.
The states which achieved the aforesaid milestones include-- Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana.
However, the present evaluation also highlights the need to properly communicate, monitor and evaluate these reforms to ensure that their impact is being felt on the ground.
Online pollution monitoring systems have been installed in 17 types of industries totalling 45 units which are located near Raipur city in August this year.
This was information by provided by Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) officials to Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand who chaired a meeting at the Mantralaya in Naya Raipur for reviewing pollution control measures taken in and around Raipur city recently.
In the meeting, Chief Secretary issued directives to begin implementation of the government subsidy scheme for conversion of diesel auto-rickshaws into CNG operated ones soon, so as to promote use of clean fuel.
Decision to launch a helpline number for lodging complaints regarding violation of noise/air pollution standards has also been taken, officials informed.
The officials concerned were also directed to inspect private hospitals and take necessary action for safe disposal of bio-medical waste.
It may be recalled that Chhattisgarh government is already set to ban commercial vehicles which are more than 10 to 12 years old —mainly autos, trucks and buses.
Buses plying on long-distance routes which are more than 12-years-old are already denied permits. The trucks which are more than 10 years old will not be given permits to ply on the roads, officials informed.
Chief Minister Raman Singh had also convened a meeting of senior government officials in a meeting of Chhattisgarh Environment Protection Board at his official residence here in June this year.
Singh, during the meeting had stated that the State Government would undertake stern measures to control pollution in the interest of the people of the State.
The truck owners will be given one-year period to buy new vehicles. Registration of more than 8-year-old vehicles will also not be done in Chhattisgarh. No permits will be given to autos which are more than 10 years old in Raipur, Durg- Bhilai and Bilaspur, the meeting was informed.
The auto owners will be given one-year period to convert the autos to e-Rickshaws. After this expiry period, the owners will not be given permits.
It may be recalled that a two-member team of experts from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai will study pollution levels in 25 kms periphery of the city.
The IIT team comprising Prof Anil K .Dixit and Indrakant Jha had visited Raipur on June 13 this year.
The experts had an interaction with the local industrialists and the officials of the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) at new Circuit House here after their arrival.
The experts had informed that this is a preliminary round of their meeting. In the meeting held recently, a proforma was handed over to the local industrialists by the experts to seek necessary information for conducting the study.
During the meeting, CECB Member Secretary Devendra Singh had appealed to the industrialists to carry out as much plantations as possible by planting atleast 1,000 saplings in one acre of land.
The IIT team informed in the meeting that the study would be carried out in three phases- In the first phase- 5 kms of city’s periphery will be studied followed by 10 kms and then 25 kms of the periphery.
