New Delhi: As many as 833 non-compliant Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) along the Ganga and its tributaries were issued closure directions by state pollution agencies in the last five years, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
In 2024, a total of 98 such industries were issued closure directions. A maximum of 80 such industries were situated in Uttarakhand, followed by eight in West Bengal, seven in Bihar and three in Uttar Pradesh.
A total of 239 such GPIs were issued closure directions in five states in 2023, 178 in 2022, 187 in 2020 and 131 in 2019, said Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply.
He said at the national level, there are a total of 4,498 GPIs, out of which 3,637 are operational.
Among these operational industries, 601 industries were found non-compliant with environmental standards, against which actions by State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees (SPCBs/PCCs) – Closure Directions: 29; Show Cause Notices: 571; Directives: 1 – were taken as per the provisions of the environmental laws, he said.
Sharing details about the status of industrial pollution in the country, the MoS said, as per the data provided by the SPCBs/PCCs, there are a total of 6,09,886 industries. Out of which, 5,44,364 industries are operational.
He said among these operational industries, 23,981 were found non-compliant with environmental standards, against which actions by SPCBs/PCCs (Closure Directions: 3600; Show Cause Notices: 13718; legal cases filed: 229; and Directives: 6434) were taken as per the provisions of the environmental laws.
Explaining the framework to check river pollution, MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh said that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in coordination with SPCBs/PCCs, currently monitors water quality at 4,922 locations across the country, including 2,265 river locations.
He said the CPCB has identified polluted river stretches (PRS) based on the water quality data for rivers with respect to the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) parameter. BOD concentration exceeding 3 mg/l is identified as polluted stretches.
The PRS are classified under Priority Class I to V, Priority I being the most polluted with BOD value of more than 30 mg/l and Priority V being the least polluted with BOD ranging between 3 – 6 mg/l, said the Minister.
(IANS)
