Central Pollution Control Board uploads list of 972 units polluting Ganga on its website

Following an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has uploaded a list of 972 industrial units polluting river Ganga and its tributaries on its website, government said today.

"A list of 972 polluting industries has been uploaded on the CPCB website," Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha. He also informed that closure notices have been issued in some cases.

NGT on July 4 had ordered the CPCB to upload the list of all polluting units of Uttar Pradesh discharging effluents in river Ganga and its tributaries in the public domain. "CPCB has already identified the Grossly Polluting Industries (GPI) on the basis of concentration of pollutants in effluent dischaged into river Ganga. NGT, however has ordered for categorisation of all polluting units in UP," the Minister added. He said one-third of industrial waste goes into water bodies without treatment and action will be taken against polluting units.

To another question, Javadekar said the requirement of obtaining Terms of References (ToR) has been dispensed with for highway expansion projects. Conditions for obtaining environment clearance for national highway expansion projects have been relaxed. However, only those expansion projects where the expansion is over 100 kms will require environment clearance, he said.