DPCC launches survey to count industrial units, identify water polluting ones
The pollution control agency, on August 3, sent letters to associations of 28 industrial areas across the city in this regard.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has launched a survey across industrial clusters in the national capital to assess the total number of units that are functional as well as identify “water-polluting” units that may be running without approval, thereby exacerbating the pollution in river Yamuna.
The pollution control agency, on August 3, sent letters to associations of 28 industrial areas across the city in this regard. The effluents discharged from illegally running units go into drains, which eventually empty into the Yamuna, adding to its pollution load, a DPCC official, privy to the matter, said.
“The survey is a long-drawn process and the first such full-fledged exercise to assess the actual number of units operating in each industrial area. It has been kick-started from Patparganj Industrial Area. We are going door-to-door to check on the functioning of the units and to understand procedural issues. A lot of the pollution in the river is caused by untreated effluents. This exercise will help us address the gaps in the process,” said the senior DPCC official, requesting anonymity.
The confirming industrial areas include those located in Narela, Bawana, Mayapuri, Wazirabad, Patparganj, Okhla, Jhilmil, Naraina (phase -I and II), Najafgarh, Kirti Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Badli and Moti Nagar, among others.
The officials further said the survey is being conducted to create a database on the number and kind of industrial units in each cluster. “According to the data available with us, it appears that there is a gap between the number of units that are actually operating in the industrial areas and the number of units that have taken consent under the ”water polluting” category,” the letter dated August 3 stated.
Industrial units are given consent by the pollution control board to operate under different categories based on the nature of their work. The survey will help establish the total number of units running under different categories and the permissions taken for the same, said officials.
All industries are required to have small effluent treatment plants (ETPs), wastewater from which goes into larger common effluent treatment plants (CETPS). In several areas, it has been observed that the wastewater discharge is not reaching the CETP; rather, it is being released directly into drains. There are 13 such CETPs in Delhi.
The DPCC August 3 letter to industrial areas further stated that a recent quality analysis of wastewater samples taken from the CETPs revealed that most plants were not meeting the prescribed standards.
Industry owners, however, believe that instead of just collating a database on confirming industrial areas, the DPCC must also survey units located in unorganised and non-confirming industrial clusters, as well as getting CETP operators to improve the functioning of their plants.
Ashish Garg, general secretary, Narela Industrial Complex Welfare Association, said, “Every industry owner in the area, even if it’s a closed unit, has to pay operational charges for the CETPs. These plants need to be fixed as they are treating a larger quantity of wastewater,which is discharged into the river. Also, the actual “water-polluting” units are the ones that are functioning without any checks in clusters such as Gandhi Nagar and Sultanpuri. There are multiple units in these areas engaged in dyeing and other such work,” said Garg.
Last year, a National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed Yamuna monitoring committee had raised concerns over untreated or partially treated effluents being discharged into drains had said only three of the 13 CETPs meet environment standards. Many units are not connected to any of the treatment plants. It also asked the DPCC and other agencies to explore strategies to deal with the issue at the earliest.