Dozens of industries located in Siltara and Urla — two major industrial areas situated adjacent to capital city Raipur — will be displaced elsewhere, an official statement informed on Wednesday.
The decision to relocate over 100 industrial units which are largely held responsible for rising pollution in Raipur and its vicinity was taken in the 32nd State board meeting of Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board. Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Housing and Environment Department, N Baijendra Kumar, presided over the meeting at Environment Conservation Board headquarters in Kabir Nagar and announced that after proper discussion with the concerned industrialists, action plan for re-locating industries of Siltara and Urla will be finalised and implemented.
Member Secretary, Environment Conservation Board, Devendra Singh has been authorised to hold discussions with industrialists, based on which he will prepare a proposal and send it to the State Government. In the meeting, Urban Administration Department’s decision to ban plastic bags from January 2015 for pollution control in State was also supported. In the context, Environment Conservation Board has decided to organise seminar and other public awareness programmes, in association with Urban Administration and Development department.
Meanwhile, online context management system of the board was also reviewed. Singh informed that under this system, nearly 1200 applicants have been registered till date and around 152 industries have applied for authorisation. Two of these applications have been redressed while 152 are still under consideration. Officials concerned have been instructed to redress pending applications as soon as possible.
Continuous Air Monitoring Station for air pollution control was also reviewed during the meeting. Kumar said that the station should be established at a suitable location in AIIMS Hospital premise or National Institute of Technology (NIT). Big lED screens will be installed at Raipur collectorate and all other stations for proper display. In the meeting, Bilaspur Municipal Corporation Commissioner told that NTPC will start Continuous Ambient Air Monitoring Station from January 15.
In this meeting, the board has decided to issue solo certificates under Water (Pollution Prevention and Control) Act 1974 and Air Pollution Prevention and Control) Act 1981. Board’s works and activities in compliance to the orders issued by National Greenery Authority, New Delhi for pollution prevention and control in River Ganga and its tributaries were also reviewed and considered satisfactory.