The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) said there has been a significant reduction in industrial pollution in the Ganga, adding the problem of black-liquor discharge and spent wash has been largely controlled.
Addressing a Press conference on Wednesday, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar pointed out that there has been substantial progress in installation of Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Systems (OCEMS).
Out of 764 grossly polluting industries, 514 units have already installed OCEMS, while 94 are in the process.
He informed that closure orders have been issued to 150 remaining units that have not responded to installation of OCEMS. Responses of six other units are being examined. Steps are also being taken to establish connectivity of OCEMS with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) server. This is in connection with the earlier inspections of 130 industries since December last year by CPCB to assess progress in implementation of the action plans,,
The Minister clarified that there were no differences between his Ministry and that of the Water Resources & Ganga Rejuvenation. He was explaining the stand of the Environment Ministry on filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court to allow construction of hydel units in the upper Ganga stretch, despite objections raised by Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati.
While declining to comment further on the issue considering that the matter is subjudice, he said the affidavit must be considered from a legal point of view. It simply represents the new policy which the Government has come out with.
He also explained the position of the Ministry on Jallikattu. He said the notification on Jallikattu has not been cancelled and that the Ministry would explain its case before the apex court. “We will put up the rationale behind the notification, following the four year ban on the bull sport”, he said.