E-Paper
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan asked to shift NCR industrial units to PNG
The commission was formed by the environment ministry on November 5 last year. It is headed by former chief secretary of Delhi M M Kutty. The commission has asked these states to inspect the industries, which are already on PNG supply, to ensure they do not use any other polluting fuels.
The states which have industrial units in the National Capital Region (NCR) have been asked to prepare a plan to shift them to piped natural gas or PNG. The direction from the commission for air quality management was given to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. Several districts of these three states constitute the NCR.
The commission has also asked these states to develop an action plan to supply PNG in the industrial areas in NCR where infrastructure and gas supply are not available.
All the three states have to submit a compliance report to the commission by August 31.
The commission was formed by the ministry of environment on November 5 last year. It is headed by former chief secretary of Delhi M M Kutty. It has already directed the industrial units in Delhi to shift to PNG.
When it comes to NCR, Uttar Pradesh has shown the highest compliance among the three states, where 1,161 of the identified 2,273 units have switched over to PNG. Only 124 of the 436 such units in Rajasthan have so far made the shift.
In case of Haryana, 408 of the 1,469 identified industrial units have shifted to PNG.
The commission has asked these states to audit and inspect the industries, which are already connected to PNG supply, and ensure that these units are not using any other polluting fuels like coal etc.
They have also been directed to maintain strict vigil to prevent the use of unapproved fuels in the NCR region and take stringent action against defaulting units.
According to NCR planning board - a part of Union ministry of housing and urban affairs - NCR comprises of an area of about 55,083 square kilometres. While Haryana has the highest number of districts (13) in NCR, Uttar Pradesh has eight and Rajasthan two.
The districts in Haryana, which are part of NCR, are Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mewat, Rohtak, Sonepat, Rewari, Jhajjhar, Panipat, Palwal, Bhiwani (including Charkhi Dadri), Mahendragarh, Jind and Karnal. In Uttar Pradesh, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur,Shamli and Muzaffarnagar come under NCR, while in Rajasthan, Alwar and Bharatpur are a part of it.
According to NCR planning board, a territory is selected based on its location, population and potential for growth to serve as a 'counter magnet area'.
