The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) launched a survey across industrial clusters in the national capital to assess the total number of units that are functional.
This survey will also identify “water-polluting” units that may be running without approval, worsening pollution in the Yamuna River, reported Hindustan Times.
The pollution control agency sent letters to associations of 28 industrial areas across the city on Aug. 3. The industrial areas include locations in: Narela, Bawana, Mayapuri, Wazirabad, Patparganj, Okhla, Jhilmil, Naraina (phase -I and II), Najafgarh, Kirti Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Badli and Moti Nagar, and more.
“The survey is a long-drawn process and the first such full-fledged exercise to assess the actual number of units operating in each industrial area,” said a senior DPCC official, reported Hindustan Times. “It has been kick-started from Patparganj Industrial Area. We are going door-to-door to check on the functioning of the units and to understand procedural issues. A lot of the pollution in the river is caused by untreated effluents. This exercise will help us address the gaps in the process.”
The survey will help create a database on the number and kind of industrial units in each cluster, according to officials, reported Hindustan Times. Industrial units are given consent by the pollution control board to operate under different categories based on the nature of their work.
“According to the data available with us, it appears that there is a gap between the number of units that are actually operating in the industrial areas and the number of units that have taken consent under the ‘water polluting’ category,” according to the Aug. 3 letter.
The survey will help establish the total number of units running under different categories and the permissions taken for the same, according to officials, reported Hindustan Times.
All industries are required to have small effluent treatment plants, and in several areas, it has been noted that the wastewater discharge is not reaching the CETP, of which there are 13.
After a water quality analysis of wastewater samples taken from the CETPs, it was found that most plants were not meeting the prescribed standards.
In 2020, a National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed Yamuna monitoring committee raised concerns over untreated or partially treated effluents being discharged into drains. Only three of the 13 CETPs meet environmental standards, according to the committee, reported Hindustan Times.
