Vinit Wahi / AMN
The Government today released a new categorization of industries based on their pollution load. Releasing the new categorization here today, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, said, “The new category of White industries which is practically non-polluting will not require Environmental Clearance (EC) and Consent and will help in getting finance from lending institutions. The exercise of Re-categorization was being carried out for last one year. This is a landmark decision to give a fair picture of the industries”.
“Re-categorization of industries based on their pollution load is a scientific exercise. The old system of categorization was creating problems for many industries and was not reflecting the pollution of the industries. The new categories will remove this lacuna and will give clear picture to everyone. 25 industrial sectors which were not critically polluting were also earlier categorized as Red. This was creating wrong impression to everyone”, he added.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has developed the criteria of categorization of industrial sectors based on the Pollution Index which is a function of the emissions (air pollutants), effluents (water pollutants), hazardous wastes generated and consumption of resources. For this purpose the references are taken from the the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution ) Cess (Amendment) Act, 2003, Standards so far prescribed for various pollutants under Environment (Protection) Act , 1986 and Doon Valley Notification, 1989 issued by MoEFCC.
The Pollution Index PI of any industrial sector is a number from 0 to 100 and the increasing value of PI denotes the increasing degree of pollution load from the industrial sector. Based on the series of brain storming sessions among CPCB, SPCBs and MoEFCC , the following criteria on ‘Range of Pollution Index ‘for the purpose of categorization of industrial sectors is finalized.
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score of 60 and above – Red category
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score of 41 to 59 – Orange category
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score of 21 to 40 – Green category
o Industrial Sectors having Pollution Index score incl.&upto 20 – White category
The salient features of the ‘Re-categorization’ exercise are as follows:
Ø Due importance has been given to relative pollution potential of the industrial sectors based on scientific criteria. Further, wherever possible, splitting of the industrial sectors is also considered based on the use of raw materials, manufacturing process adopted and in-turn pollutants expected to be generated.
Ø The Red category of industrial sectors would be 60.
Ø The Orange category of industrial sectors would be 83.
Ø The Green category of industrial sectors would be 63.
Ø Newly-introduced White category contains 36 industrial sectors which are practically non-polluting.
Ø There shall be no necessity of obtaining the Consent to Operate’’ for White category of industries. An intimation to concerned SPCB / PCC shall suffice.
Ø No Red category of industries shall normally be permitted in the ecologically fragile area / protected area.