Ban on new projects in 43 critically polluted industrial hubs

NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has banned till August any new projects in 43 industrial hubs identified recently by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as "critically" polluted.

"The directives will remain in effect till August by which time the pollution watchdog along with State pollution Control Board will finalise a time-bound action plan for improving the environmental quality in these clusters," a senior official from the environment ministry said.

The aim is to give breathing space to these industrial hubs where extent of damage have outreached their capacity with respect to one or more environment component, he added.

The moratorium will also be imposed on expansion of the existing projects in these clusters, he said.

Last month, environment minister Jairam Ramesh had released a first of its kind Comprehensive Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters, covering 88 industrial hubs across the country.

It had said areas having aggregated Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) scores of 70 and above should be considered as "critically polluted".

The areas having CEPI between 60-70 should be considered as severely polluted and should be kept under surveillance and pollution control measures should be efficiently implemented, it had said.