New Delhi, July 20 (KNN) Since December 2015 till April 2018, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has closed down as many as 438 industrial units and has served show cause notice to 216 industrial units across Ganga and Yamuna.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation & HRD, Dr. Satya Pal Singh, informed the Lok Sabha has the CPCB monitors the pollution caused by Industrial units in rivers Ganga and Yamuna.

CPCB has acted against the Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) discharging into main stem of Ganga River & its tributaries (Kali-East & Ramganga) which are non-complying with the prescribed norms and non-connectivity of On-line Continuous Effluent Monitoring System (OCEMS) during the last two years and current year.

Overall, closure notice and show cause notice has been served to 654 industrial units since December 2015.

CPCB conducted joint inspection of 32 industries, along with Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), located at Muzaffarnagar in Hindon River basin (tributary of Yamuna River).

The joint inspection report was submitted before the NGT after which the Tribunal on September 22, 2017 imposed environmental compensation of Rs.10.0 Lakhs each to 07 Pulp & Paper industries and Rs.15.0 lakhs to a Slaughter house and Rs.5.0 lakhs to a Chemical industry.  

Under “Pollution Inventorisation Assessment & Surveillance on river Ganga (PIAS)” project implemented by CPCB under the Namami Gange programme, regular inspection & monitoring of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) is carried out for compliance verification of the stipulated environmental norms.

Inspections are also carried out on annual basis through third party technical institutes viz. IIT’s, NIT’s & CSIR Institutes for verification of compliance. First round of inspection by technical institutions was carried out during 2017 and second round of inspection is in progress and action is taken appropriately by SPCBs on the defaulting industries, informed the Minister.

CPCB recently in May & June also inspected industries discharging effluent to drains leading to Yamuna river located in Yamuna basin (Sonipat and Panipat).