(a) whether the Government has made any assessment of the number of polluting industries in
the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof, industry-wise;
(c) whether the Government has taken any stringent steps to stop pollution from
such units;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SMT. JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)
(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.
353 FOR REPLY ON 19.12.2011 REGARDING POLLUTING INDUSTRIAL UNITS BY SHRI VARUN GANDHI.
(a) & (b) The Government has indentified 17 categories of highly polluting industries. There
are 2608 industries identified under 17 categories of highly polluting industries. Of these,
1924 industries have provided requisite pollution control systems to comply with the prescribed
standards. 339 units are closed and 345 industries are not having adequate facilities to meet
with the prescribed standards. The State wise and category wise distribution of these highly
polluting industries is given at Annexure - I and II respectively.
The State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs)
are the statutory bodies to grant consent to the industries under the Water (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
The SPCBs have also identified the polluting industries based on their pollution potential and
have further grouped them into red, orange and green categories. The identified industries are
monitored on regular basis by SPCBs and PCCs for assessing the status of their compliance with
the prescribed pollution control norms.
(c) to (e) The Government has taken several steps to control pollution from such industries
as given below:
(i) Regular monitoring of industrial units by the SPCBs and PCCs for ensuring environmental
compliance.
(ii) Issue of directions to the defaulting industries by SPCBs / PCCs including closing down
their manufacturing processes.
(iii) Notification of general and industry specific emission and effluent standards to check
industrial pollution.
(iv) Identification of 88 critically polluted industrial clusters for restoration of
environmental quality in these areas.
(v) Evolved mutually agreed programme for seeking participation of Corporate in
environmental pollution control under Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection
(CREP).
(vi) Setting up of 153 Common Effluent Treatment Plants and 29 Common Treatment Storage and
Disposal Facilities for management of effluents and Hazardous waste respectively.
(vii) Introduction of clean technologies in industrial units for reducing generation of air
and water pollution.