New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) The environment ministry has banned the setting up of new factories in 43 critically polluted areas of the country till August, by when the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state boards will prepare a plan to improve the environment in these areas, a ministry spokesperson said here Friday.
These are the 43 areas that had a score above 70 (on a 100-point scale) when the CPCB carried out a comprehensive environmental assessment of industrial clusters late last year.

Stricter-than-usual criteria for clearance of new projects will be applied in 32 more industrial clusters that scored between 60 and 70 on the scale, the spokesperson added.

The CPCB had surveyed 88 industrial clusters around the country, and found 43 “critically polluted” (score above 70) while 32 were “severely polluted” (score 60-70), according to CPCB chairman S.P. Gautam.

The 43 critically polluted areas where new factories have been banned till August are Ankleshwar (Gujarat) score 88.50, Vapi (Gujarat) 88.09, Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) 87.37, Chandrapur (Maharashtra) 83.88, Korba (Chhattisgarh) 83.00, Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) 82.91, Angul Talcher (Orissa) 82.09, Vellore (North Arcot) (Tamil Nadu) 81.79, Singrauli (Uttar Pradesh) 81.73, Ludhiana (Punjab) 81.66, Najafgarh drain basin (including Anand Parvat, Naraina, Okhla and Wazirpur, Delhi) 79.54, Noida (Uttar Pradesh) 78.90, Dhanbad (Jharkhand) 78.63, Dombivli (Maharashtra) 78.41, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) 78.09, Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) 77.45, Aurangabad (Maharashtra) 77.44, Faridabad (Haryana) 77.07, Agra (Uttar Pradesh) 76.48, Manali (Tamil Nadu) 76.32, Haldia (West Bengal) 75.43, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) 75.28, Jodhpur (Rajasthan) 75.19, Greater Cochin (Kerala) 75.08, Mandi Gobind Garh (Punjab) 75.08, Howrah (West Bengal) 74.84, Vatva (Gujarat) 74.77, Ib Valley (Orissa) 74.00, Varanasi-Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) 73.79, Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) 73.77, Pali (Rajasthan) 73.73, Mangalore (Karnataka) 73.68, Jharsuguda (Orissa) 73.34, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) 72.38, Bhadravati (Karnataka) 72.33, Tarapur (Maharashtra) 72.01, Panipat (Haryana) 71.91, Indore (Madhya Pradesh) 71.26, Bhavnagar (Gujarat) 70.99, Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) 70.82, Junagadh (Gujarat) 70.82, Asansol (West Bengal) 70.20 and Patancheru-Bollaram (Andhra Pradesh) 70.07.

The 32 severely polluted areas where stricter clearance criteria will be applied are Paradip (Orissa) score 69.26, Nashik (Maharashtra) 69.25, Chembur (Maharashtra) 69.19, Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) 69.07, Kala Amb (Himachal Pradesh) 68.77, Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) 68.77, Batala (Punjab) 68.59, Tirupur (Tamil Nadu) 68.38, Durgapur (West Bengal) 68.26, Raichur (Karnataka) 68.07, Bidar (Karnataka) 67.64, West Singhbhum (Jharkhand) 67.30, Mettur (Tamil Nadu) 66.98, Vadodara (Gujarat) 66.91, Jaipur (Rajasthan) 66.82, Rajkot (Gujarat) 66.76, Nagda-Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) 66.67, Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) 66.06, Pimpri-Chinchwad (Maharashtra) 66.06, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) 65.45, Saraikela (Jharkhand) 65.38, Ramgarh (Jharkhand) 65.11, Pinia (Karnataka) 65.11, Pitampur (Madhya Pradesh) 65.09, Jalandhar (Punjab) 64.98, Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) 64.71, Bada Jamtara (Jharkhand) 64.47, Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) 63.83, Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh) 63.83, Haridwar (Uttarakhand) 61.01, Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh) 60.57 and Ferozabad (Uttar Pradesh) 60.51.