Government shuts 150 polluting industrial units along Ganga

The Centre has issued closure orders to 150 grossly polluting industrial units for not installing Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring System (OCEMS) along River Ganga.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar said that of the 764 polluting industries, 514 have already installed the monitoring system while 94 are in the process.

He added that the industrial pollution has significantly come down in the river due to the installation of the monitoring system and added that the problem of black liquor discharge and spent wash into the river has also been largely controlled.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had formulated an Action Plan for abatement of industrial pollution in Ganga covering five key industrial sectors - sugar, paper and pulp, distillery, textile and tannery.

The objective of the Action Plan is to reduce effluent generation and organic load. The online monitoring system enables the board to keep tabs on polluting units on a real-time basis without actually visiting the industries.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has identified 764 grossly polluting industries discharging 501 million litres of waste per day into the Ganga and its major tributaries.

Of these 764 industries, 687 are located in Uttar Pradesh followed by 42 in Uttarakhand and around 594 industries are located in the main stem of the Ganga. According to the government data, the discharge from industries has been brought down by 125 million litres per day.