7 Gujarat cities may lose ‘big polluter’ tag

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is likely to lift the eight-month moratorium on environmental clearance for new industries in most of the seven Gujarat cities for which the ban was announced last month.

According to reliable sources in the state government, the central board has responded favourably to representations made by the business communities of Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Vadodara.

The seven Gujarat cities are among the 88 industrial hubs identified as ‘critically polluted’ by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, in an environmental assessment of industrial clusters made late last year. Ankleshwar, Vapi and Vatva were identified as among the most polluted of the 88 cities in the ‘critical’ list. But the blanket ban on clearances for new industries in entire areas of cities had upset the state’s business community.

Responding to the moratorium, industrial associations had made representations to the GPCB and the state environment department.