Jairam Ramesh’s diktat clears the air

With an aim to give breathing space to industrial hubs, the Union environment and forest ministry has decided not to grant clearance to any new projects in 43 of the 88 critically polluted clusters till August 2010. These include four industrial clusters in Maharashtra — Chandrapur, Dombivli, Navi Mumbai and Tarapur.
The ministry has also decided to put a stop to expansion of existing projects.

The announcement was made by environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh during a recent public discussion in Chandrapur, which ranks fourth in the list of critical clusters.

The minister said the state governments and the Centre will put together an action plan till the time the environmental health of the critically polluted clusters didn’t improve. “We’ll review the conditions from time to time,” he said.

The memorandum, issued on January 13, is the first major step by
the ministry to check environmental pollution.

In a study conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, 88 industrial clusters across the country were identified as having “alarmingly high” pollution index.

Each cluster was given a score for the level of air, water and land pollution out of a maximum of 100 marks. Areas that had a comprehensive environment pollution index (CEPI) score of 70 and above were critically polluted; ones in the ranges of 60 to 70 were severely polluted. The report said that at least 43 critical clusters needed detailed investigations.

The report was released in New Delhi in December 2009.