NEWS

More than 300 commercial units in Madhya Pradesh are causing pollution by emitting harmful air and water effluents beyond the permissible limits, the State Pollution Control Board has said.

In reply to an RTI query, the State Pollution Control Board gave details of about 313 such industries which flouted standard pollution control norms during 2009-10.

170 such units are located in the industrial hubs -- Ujjain, Indore and Dhar, followed by 48 in Bhopal and 32 in Jabalpur. About 24 such commercial establishments are located in Gwalior, 18 in Guna, 12 in Rewa and two in Satna, it said.

Exercising his Right to Information, Environment activist Ajay Dubey filed an application seeking information on number of industries emitting waste in air and water beyond the norms set by the government.

"The reply is based on the result carried out by monitoring their waste during 2009-10," the RTI reply said.

"It is really a matter of concern. There are many more industries which are polluting the environment. We have decided to seek action against these harmful commercial establishments in the Green Tribunal," Dubey said.

There are many parameters set to measure air and water pollution done by industries. According to MPPCB official, the permissible limit is 6.5-8.5 ph value in per litre of water emission. The Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) limit is 250 and 30 mg per litre respectively.

Whereas for cement plant, the permissible limit is 50 micro gram per metre cubic of air emission and for 15 tonnes normal boiler's chimneys is 150 mg per annum cube of air emission, the official said.

Some of the prominent companies emitting harmful waste beyond the permissible limits are Grasim Ltd, Nagda, Prestige Food Ltd, Dewas, Tata International Ltd, Dewas and Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation Limited, Bhopal.

Besides, Som Distilleries, Bhopal, Central Railway Coach repairs, Bhopal, Vindhyachal Distilleries, Raigad, Associated Alcohol and Breweries, Badwah, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Indore,National Steel and Agro Industries Ltd, Dhar, Nicolas Piramal Ltd, Pithampur, J P Cement, Rewa, Mehar Cement, Satna,Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Bitoni, Jabalpur and J K tyre Ltd, Bamore, it said.

As per the reply, Ranbaxy India Limited, Curlon Industries and Kodak India Ltd, Malanpur and Godrej Consumers Product Ltd, Bhind are also found to flouting mandatory pollution control norms.