The strong industrialisation owing to hill-based tax incentives during the past few years may be a feel good factor in Uttarakhand. But all that glitters is not gold.
The Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) has identified nearly 374 industries causing pollution in the hill state. These industries include some big names like Tata Motors, Hindustan Uniliver, ITC, Hero Honda, Hindustan Zinc, Bajaj Auto and Nestle.
These are the findings of a survey conducted by the UEPPCB, which has now estimated that these industries may be discharging 15,000 metric tonnes of hazardous waste per annum in various forms like chemical effluents.
For this purpose, the UEPPCB has now given the task of managing waste from these industries to three companies – Bharat Oil, Continental Petroleum and Ambuja Cement. While Bharat Oil has put up its common hazardous waste treatment and storage disposal facility at Roorkee in Haridwar district, the other two companies are ferrying the waste outside the state for the disposal.
“We are regularly keeping checks on these industries so as to keep the environment green. The job becomes more important in Uttarakhand which has the tag of an environment-friendly state,” said Amarjeet Singh Oberai, Environment Officer of UEPPCB.
“Last year, we issued notices for closure to nearly 52 industries which were causing pollution,” said an official of the UEPPCB. These industries can store hazardous waste for a period of 90 days under the stringent environmental norms, thereafter, they have to get rid of the waste material, the official added.
Some of the industries like Hero Honda have set up their own facilities for hazardous waste management.
