PANJIM: In a major decision, as many as 4900 pollution-free industries under the green category will now be granted a one-time consent to last the entire life of the units. These Consents to Operate have so far been renewed after every five to ten years.
Further, the time limit for Consent to Operate of 300-odd red category industries has been increased to five years from the existing three years, while around 1500 Orange category industries will enjoy the consent validity of upto 10 years, as against three to seven years.
There are a total of 6,769 industries under the 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 by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB).
This decision was taken during a recently-held meeting between the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the respective States.
Industries like pharmaceuticals, dyes, tanneries, sugar and distilleries are in the red category. Automobile servicing, hotels and restaurants, stone crushers, etc fall under the orange category, while the small scale and cottage industries fall in the green category.
GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha told Herald that from now on the validity of Consent to Operate for each category has been extended. Red category industries will be given consent for five years and orange for ten. Green categories will be given a one-time consent for the life cycle of the unit, while non-polluting industries will not require any consent.
During the meeting, the Environment ministry proposed revisiting the system of categorising industries that seek permission to set up and operate units. It has suggested giving higher consideration to air pollutants, effluents and nature of waste – hazardous or otherwise – produced as part of an industrial unit’s operations.
As per the new classification, a new category of industries – non-polluting industries – requiring no consent to operate, would be added to the industrial categorization, apart from reclassification of existing structure.
Noronha said that the proposed system will be based on ‘scores’ that industrial units will be allotted on the basis of these pollution-related parameters.
The proposed classification will be on the basis of a composite score – comprising 40 per cent weightage for air pollution, 40 per cent for water quality and 20 per cent 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 more than 60 will be classified as red, those from 35 to 59 as orange, from 15 to 34 as green, while units with less than 15 will be considered as non-polluting, requiring no consent to operate,” Noronha said.
