State launches star rating system to keep tab on polluting industries
THE STAR RATING
PROGRAMME WOULD HELP INDUSTRIES TO UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE, WHICH WAS MISSING EARLIER
Jharkhand has become the third state in the country to launch a Star Rating Programme (SRP) for industries, aimed at decreasing pollution by increasing transparency, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) officials said.
JSPCB launched the programme after a formal signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the state pollution control board and University of Chicago Trust (UCT). Prior to Jharkhand, only Maharashtra and Odisha have implemented the SRP for air pollution evaluation of polluting industries in their states.
Jharkhand chief secretary Sudhir Tripathy said SRP for industries was necessary for a state like Jharkhand. The initiative will help reduce pollution emanating from industries.
JSPCB chairman AK Rastogi said the UCT would provide capacity building support to board officials and industries, bring expertise in online monitoring system and evaluate industry based evaluation.
Jharkhand has 81 industries under 17 categories of industries with highly polluting nature. The SRP would help industries to understand their own environmental performance, which was missing earlier, officials said.
Rastogi said industries have been invited to participate in SRP voluntarily this year. “However, it will be made mandatory for all industries causing air pollution from next year,” JSPCB chairman said.
“Initially, only air pollution will be rated on parameter of particulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5. Later, water pollution will also be added to the programme,” the Rastogi said.
Citing an example of rating calculation, Rastogi said for a thermal power plant of 210 mega watt or more, standard emission limit was 150 mg/Nm3 (milligram per cubic meter of air). The industry would get 5-star rating, who would restrict its emission maximum at 50mg/Nm3, while 1-star rating would awarded to the industry, whose emission level would go above 250mg/ Nm3, Rastogi said.
The SRP would range from 1 to 5. The 5-star rated industries would get recognition from the board, while the 1-star rated industries may face cancellation of their Consent to Operate (CTO) license by the board.
It’s worth mentioning here that air pollution is rising across Jharkhand. Dhanbad has recently named among 102 nonattainment cities of the country under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), a five-year action plan with a target of reducing concentrations of PM-10 and PM-2.5 up to 30% by 2024, with 2017 as the base year.
A recent study of the Greenpeace India, which released its annual report Airpocalypse-III last month, stated PM-10 level was higher than the permissible limit in Dhanbad, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Saraikela and Kharswan in 2017.
Jharkhand’s Jharia town topped the list of 313 polluted cities in the country, while Dhanbad ranked ninth in the Greenpeace India’s report. Ranchi stood at 49th position in the list.
To check pollution and improve air quality, JSPCB made mandatory of installing PM-10 analyser for major air polluting industries including railway sidings, coal/iron ore, bauxite mines and others.
Besides, the board has indentified 102 locations for continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) to strengthen air quality monitoring of the state. Rastogi said the proposal for the locations has been submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for approval.