Son Akhilesh gives wing to Mulayam’s pro-industry policy

The order was issued on February 24,2004,but it was never implemented and industrialists were expected to apply every year for the consent from the pollution board. The matter came to light when recently,at a meeting in Delhi,it was pointed out that certain states,which included Uttar Pradesh,were still following the system of giving yearly consent.

Under rules,the consent is given to establish and run an industrial unit when it is following laws and rules under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981.

On April 15,the pollution control board issued an order that industries would be given “one-time consent” as decided in February 2004.

According to the order of February 24,2004, one-time consent for highly polluting industries was for two years,for medium-level industries it was for three years and for small-scale and less polluting industries it was for five years.

Asked about the reason why the order had not been implemented all these years,JS Yadav,member secretary of the pollution control board,said,“It was not that anyone was denied opportunity to seek consent for two,three or five years in the past. But it was left on the will of the industrialists and not many opted for it. However,now we have been asked to effectively enforce the order and ensure that the consent is given on the set guidelines.”

In the new order dated April 15,2013,the board has asked all its officers to ensure implementation of the old order. In the new order,industries have been divided in three categories,namely red,orange and green.

“Red” are highly polluting industries like sugar,distillery,fertilisers,pharmaceuticals,pesticide,thermal power plants,cement etc. For them,now the investors can take consent at one go for two years.

The “orange” category includes industries like cotton spinning,hotel and restaurants,flour mills,food processing,stone crushing etc. For these,the consent would be given for “three years”.

For “green” industries,which are mainly small scale industries like bamboo and cane products,candles,sports goods,hand-loom weaving etc,the consent would be give for five years at one go.