PANJIM: Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) will re-classify all industries
in the State.
Non-polluting industries will be
categorized as White and will not require Consent to Operate under the Air and
Water pollution Acts. Some 36 industrial sectors with around 200 units will be
covered under this category.
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Nearly 1314 industries under
the Green category will now be granted one-time consent for the lifecycle of
the units. These units had consent to operate that had to be renewed every ten
years.
The move comes following finalization
of the new system by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on
re-classification of industries into Red, Orange, Green and White. “We will
be placing the new guidelines before the Board members during the next
meeting,” GSPCB chairman Jose Manual Noronha said.
“The purpose of categorization
is to ensure that the industry is established in a manner which is consistent
with the environmental objectives. It will prompt the sector willing to adopt
cleaner technologies, ultimately resulting in generation of fewer pollutants,”
CPCB opined.
As per the guidelines, the
period of the Consent to Operate of the 746-odd Red category industries has
been extended to five years from the existing two years, while around 2662 Orange
category industries will enjoy the consent validity of up to 10 years, as
against the existing three to seven years.
“With new classification around
200 units will come under White, as we don’t have many such industries
operational in the State,” Chairman said. The White category industries will
include units like plastic and cotton rope making, organic and inorganic
nutrients, packing of powdered milk, handloom, blending and packing of tea,
biscuit trays, etc.
The proposed classification
will be on the basis of a composite score – comprising 40 percent weightage for
air pollution, 40 percent for water quality and 20 percent hazardous waste. The
parameters will include toxic pollutants, besides the standard basket of
particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, benzene, ammonia, the pH
(to ascertain the level of acidity of water quality), total suspended solids
and level of dissolved oxygen.
“Industries that score over 60
will be classified as red, those from 30 to 59 as orange, from 15 to 29 as
green while units with less than 15 will be considered under white, requiring
no consent to operate,” Noronha said.
The State has 4922 industries
under Red, Orange and Green categories that have been granted Consent to
Operate under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and Water
(prevention and control of pollution) Act.
