Journalism of Courage
While the issue of pollution by industries in the Pune district remains a point of concern,the Auditor General (AG) in its latest report of Maharashtra has observed that in Pune several cases of renewal of consent have been pending since 2003. Newsline has a acquired a copy of the latest audit report under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The consent in question is issued by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) under the provision of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,1981. Consents are granted after ensuring the stringent norms,set up to control pollution is followed by industries and other big real-estate projects. Setting up of sewage/effluent treatment plants (STP/ETP),making proper provisions for controlling air pollution,usage of ground water,green cover are some of the parameters which are checked by MPCB before granting consent.
Industries have been classified into red,orange and green categories,depending on their pollution potential. They can opt for multiple period of consent (maximum up to five years) by paying higher fees, the report said.
According to the report,Punes MPCB office,which includes Pune I,Pune II ,Pimpri-Chinchwad,Satara and Solapur,handle 12,178 large,medium and small industries in the three categories.
The report states that the way the consents are managed requires much to be desired.
On scrutiny of relevant records,it was noticed that renewal of consent has been pending since 2003 and this has resulted in operation of industry without consent and loss of revenue to the Board. Further,it was observed that Master Register was not maintained by the sub-regional offices. Inward and outward consent register was also not maintained in the prescribed format, said the report.
The MPCB has put the onus on industries for renewal of consent.
Field Officer SV Auti,said the industries have to approach the MPCB for renewal of licences. It is not possible for us to check every industry due to lack of manpower. Mostly,the major industries do not default in renewal but the small and medium scale industries do, he said. When asked about the steps taken by the MPCB to ensure compliance,Auti said the Board used to fine the industries previously but that practice has now been stopped.
Criticising the attitude of the MPCB,environmentalist Parineeta Dandekar said the fact that Pune has the most polluted river stretches in the state is an example of laxity in implementing the Environmental Act. Environmental governance in India is very lax and government machinery often takes the excuse of low manpower to advocate self regulation on part of the industry. This is a wrong practice and if the MPCB cannot manage the consent renewal properly,they should restrict issuance of consents, she said.
Ananth Sardeshmukh,director general of Mahratta Chambers of Commerce Industries and Agriculture,called for greater clearance on part of the government agencies to ensure industries comply with the regulation mechanism.
