Ganga pollution: Regulator gets more teeth
September 1st, 2010 - 12:04 am ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) can now directly issue showcause or closure notices to industries polluting the river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said Tuesday.
“We all are concerned about the increasing pollution in Ganga and cannot only rely on the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB),” Ramesh told reporters here.
“So, we have decided to invoke the Environment Protection Act which will give CPCB the power to issue direct closure or showcause notices to those who exceed the pollution levels,” he added.
“The CPCB will conduct a survey of all the industrial units on a 500 km stretch from Kannauj to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and will issue notices to industries polluting on the banks of Ganga,” he said.
Earlier, CPCB used to issue directives to SPCB to check industries polluting the Ganga.
Ramesh said the environment ministry is also finalising a Rs.1,300 crore World Bank project for strengthening and reforming CPCB and the SPCB.
Human and industrial waste have left the sacred river highly polluted and efforts to clean the Ganges have not really borne fruit. Nearly Rs.900 crore ($20 million) have been spent in the last two decades on the Ganga Action Plan.
A parliamentary panel recently observed that the action plan has shown no considerable results in improving the quality of the river.
- Four industrial units closed for polluting Ganga - Oct 13, 2010
- Noise monitoring network launched - Mar 24, 2011
- Centre approves Rs 7000 crore project to clean Ganga - Apr 28, 2011
- India signs agreement with World Bank to clean Ganga - Jun 14, 2011
- MOEF gets Rs. 200 crores under bioremediation for first time - Mar 23, 2011
- 639 polluting industrial units closed in Haryana - May 26, 2011
- Holy Ganga receives 2,900 million litres sewage daily: PM - Apr 17, 2012
- Don't clear new industrial projects in Noida: Green tribunal (Lead) - Apr 12, 2012
- Cabinet clears Rs.7,000 crore to clean Ganga - Apr 28, 2011
- Crores spent on Ganga but pollution levels up: Uma Bharati - Jun 30, 2011
- World Bank loan to clean the Ganga - Jun 13, 2011
- Rs.896 crore spent on cleaning Ganga - Aug 30, 2011
- Notices issued to tanneries for polluting River Ganges - Sep 17, 2010
- No more passing the buck: Jairam to Delhi, Haryana on Yamuna issue - Mar 23, 2011
- Moratorium extended on projects in polluted clusters - Aug 31, 2010
Tags: central pollution control board, closure, cpcb, environment minister, environment protection act, ganga action plan, ganges, jairam ramesh, kannauj, New Delhi, parliamentary panel, pollution control board, pollution levels, river ganga, rs 1, sacred river, spcb, state pollution control board, world bank, world bank project