Gzb polluting units under scanner
GHAZIABAD: The authorities in Ghaziabad are contemplating a move to disallow new polluting industrial units in the near future. The officials said the proposal to this effect is being considered in view of the extremely high air pollution in Ghaziabad city and all stakeholders, including industry associations, will be taken on board to arrive at a consensus before any such policy decision is implemented.
Ghaziabad city is already listed among 16 non-attainment areas in the state of Uttar Pradesh which suffer from high levels of pollution. Last month, it was ranked as the secondmost polluted, after Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, of 6,475 cities across the world under the World Air Quality Report 2021, an annual report prepared by Swiss organisation IQAIR.
“There have been serious concerns raised by courts in the wake of rising air pollution and polluting units have been disallowed in both Noida and Greater Noida. We are working on the same pattern and will soon disallow the setting up of new polluting units here, though the existing units will continue. For this, we have held discussions with different industry bodies and they have also put forward their views,” said Virendra Kumar, deputy commissioner (industries).
Officials said they are also considering taking steps against other factors that lead to air pollution such as old vehicles and rampant construction activities, among others.
According to officials, there are about 30,000 industrial units in Ghaziabad alone. The district also has 12 industrial areas, which have been developed by the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority, while there are about 12 more industrial areas that are privately developed. There are about 14,000 industrial units that fall under the micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME) sector. “There are around 400 units that are polluting in nature and mostly operate on wood as fuel. The proposal to disallow new polluting units is being considered in the wake of the air pollution across Ghaziabad,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer at the UP Pollution Control Board.
Meanwhile, members of industry bodies said that industrial
units alone cannot be blamed for the rise in air pollution and they will oppose the move. “We held discussions with the officials and told them to brief us about the norms. If anyone has purchased industrial land for the setting up of a new unit, it cannot be disallowed. Further, there is no study detailing the contribution of industrial units to the city’s rising air pollution. There are other sources such as vehicular emission, road dust and construction activities that aid pollution,” said Mukesh Gupta, general secretary of Sahibabad site-iv industrial area. “Ghaziabad city was projected as an industrial town and the housing societies were developed near the industrial areas at a very late stage. It is faulty town planning that has led to this grim scenario. So, we will oppose the move if they are going to disallow the setting up of new industrial units,” he added.
Others said that restricting such units will send out wrong signals. “The Central Pollution Control Board has its own set of parameters which allow the operation of these units. If such industrial units are disallowed, other units will also get affected due to the dependency factor,” said Rajiv Arora, general secretary of Bulandshahr Road industrial area.
“Instead, it would be advisable to regulate unauthorised industrial areas,” Arora added.