"The Centre has extended the ban on new industry at Haldia which is really uncalled for. We have been asking them to lift the ban and allow new investments to flow here", Banerjee said at the inauguration of three new projects at the industrial port town. The projects were approved before the ban was imposed.
With the Centre rejecting the state government's proposal to set up a eco-tourism project at Nayachar island off Haldia shore recently, Banerjee said earlier the proposal for a petrochemicals project was cleared in the area.
"We scrapped the plan after coming to power and suggested that an eco-tourism park be set up instead. But now they are rejecting that too. The Centre should lift the ban immediately", she said.
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 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 0 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).