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Environment ministry's ultimatum to polluting industries

In its toughest ever move against polluting industries in the country, the ministry of environment and forests on Saturday named offenders who have been served ultimatums.

Releasing the list of some 2,000 river and lake polluting industries, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prof Saifuddin Soz said these industries would have to literally clean up their act by November or close shop.

Meanwhile, the ministry would be at pains to ''create a climate'' which is conducive to orderly compliance and convince the parties concerned that the measures were being taken in the national interest.

This list of industries includes several public sector enterprises and Prof Soz said he and the Central Pollution Control Board went about their task without discrimination. ''I shut my eyes against public and private sector,'' he said.

He said it was all very well for industrialists to live comfortably, but society would not accept the effluents they were giving in return.

Prof Soz appealed to the chief ministers not to treat the measures as shutdown notices but help create an atmosphere of understanding.

He said the chief ministers have been cooperative so far and mentioned M Karunanidhi of Tamil Nadu whose state has by far the greatest number of industries polluting rivers with 834 industries in the state served with ultimatums.

The action by the CPCB follows a meeting of the National River Conservation Authority, held on July 12 under the chairmanship of the prime minister, and which decided that industries directly discharging effluents into rivers and lakes would be asked to install effluent treatment systems within six months.

Prof Soz said industries with genuine problems could still appeal to his ministry for extra time as long as they were serious about making rectification.

A special committee of scientists have been constituted to make on-site inspections and their advise would be taken into account in making exemptions, the minister said.

In all cases, the principle of transparency would be adhered to, the minister said, adding that it was his desire to make his ministry a ''model of transparency.''

According to Soz, the release of the list on Saturday was itself a mark of transparency and it was based on information received from state pollution control boards and committees which followed criteria defined by the National River Conservation Plan.

The industries served with notices were those identified as grossly polluting and either involved in handling hazardous substances or discharging effluents with a biological oxygen demand of 100 kg per day.

Prof Soz said a concerted effort was required by the state pollution control bodies to ensure that the NCRA decision was implemented fully.

UNI