Centre urged to lift ban on industries

25 December 2011

biswabrata goswami
HALDIA, 25 DEC: The Haldia Development Authority (HDA) has appealed to the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) to lift the ban on setting up of new industrial projects in the industrial belts of West Bengal, including Haldia. The HDA has also appealed to Union finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee to look into the matter.
Mr Subhendu Adhikari, chairman of the HDA and Trinamul Congress MP from Tamluk, said: “The Union environment ministry has extended the ban imposed on 43 highly-polluted clusters across the country till March next year. The ban on industrial clusters includes Haldia, Howrah and Asansol in West Bengal. But, we have appealed to both the state government and the Centre to look into the matter so that every investor can get environment clearances as early as possible.”
“Even, I have personally spoken with Mr Mukherjee with regards to this matter and I hope, the ban will be lifted soon,” said Mr Adhikari.
According to HDA officials, at least 12 major industries, including Haldia Energy Ltd, India Power Corporation (Haldia) Ltd, RH Projects, STV Technologies, Haldia Free Trade Warehousing Pvt Ltd, Sinosteel Rolls India Pvt Ltd, Shamon Ispat Ltd, Hindustan Gypsum and Euclix Shipbuilders Pvt Ltd, are waiting for environment clearances from the Centre. “If the ban is lifted within a few months, investors will start their projects soon,” said an HDA official. The Centre had imposed the ban on the basis of a comprehensive environmental pollution index (CEPI). The index was used as a tool to assess the condition of the air, groundwater and land in 88 industrial clusters across the country. About 43 clusters with a CEPI score of 70 and above on a scale of zero to 100 were declared critically polluted. Of the three sites in Bengal, Haldia was found to be the most polluting with a CEPI score of 75.43. Howrah came next (74.84), followed by Asansol (70.20).
A state pollution control board official said: “The CEPI is linked to public health in terms of presence of toxins and their concentration, impact on human health and level of exposure. It will help in industrial sitting and indicate the assimilating capacity of a particular area with respect to air, water and soil pollution.” It has been learnt that West Bengal has submitted two plans and even started executing some of the features. Initial reports suggest there has been a marginal improvement in Haldia. Groundwater pollution and depletion were flagged as a critical concern. The state government feels that a surface water scheme in Geokhali will address this problem. Mr Adhikari said: “We have already worked for increasing green zones in the industrial belt and all existing industries in Haldia have developed their infrastructure according to the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board. If the PCB assesses the pollution in Haldia now, it will find an improved situation compared to the previous measurement.”