E-Paper
Despite improvement, Ghaziabad and Noida continue to be highly polluted industrial clusters
Noida:
Noida:
Despite an improvement, both Noida and Ghaziabad -- two major industrial hubs in the state-- continue to be among top 100 polluted industrial clusters with a high score on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI).
The CEPI score – an overall environment assessment index developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IIT Delhi in 2009 – assesses the environmental quality of identified industrial clusters, incorporating air, water and the land pollution.
The score was devised to help plan individual pollution mitigation measures for air, water and land or soil in the respective industrial clusters. Recently, the pollution control boards in both Noida and Ghaziabad updated their pollution standards based on the latest CEPI scores.
Since the last assessment in 2013, while Ghaziabad continues to be a critically polluted area (CPA), Noida improved to the severely polluted area (SPA), making them both highly polluted.
The CEPI score for Noida used to be 78.69 in 2013 and is presently at 68.76. For Ghaziabad, the CEPI score improved from 84.13 in 2013 to 72.30 in 2018.
However, while Noida has shown an aggregate improvement, its score worsened on the air pollution part in the past five years. According to the report, while Noida scored a 50 in 2013 for air pollution, the same was 59.75 in 2018, released only recently.
The CEPI score is generated considering different factors involved in air, water and land/soil pollution. The factors in each of the three environment types include presence of toxin, scale of industrial activities, pollutant concentration, impact on people, impact on eco-geological feature, potentially affected population, level of exposure, risk to sensitive receptors and additional high-risk elements.
“The CEPI is comprehensive, so it includes all dimensions land, air and water and it is not just limited to the industrial area. So Noida is an industrial cluster, which means all of Noida is mapped, and this will include particulate pollutants, roadside dust, vehicular pollution, etc. So it’s an overall picture,” Anil Kumar Singh, regional officer, Noida, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB)
According to the 2013 reports, among the CEPI score of 13 highly polluted industrial cities in Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad remained at the ninth spot and Noida at the 10th spot. Out of 100 highly polluted industrial hubs pan-India, Ghaziabad was ranked 33 while Noida at 43.
A cluster with a score above 70 is listed under CPA, while those under 70 and 50 are considered SPAs.
“It’s an improvement for sure. In five years, however, there is nothing to cheer about as the overall pollution situation is still at dangerous levels. The only positive from the latest score is that there is hope, but Noida and Ghaziabad need speedy recovery; improvement should have been more. The authorities must also, focus on spreading more public awareness about measures such as effective solid waste management,” said Sagnik Dey, professor atmospheric environment, IIT-Delhi.
