The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : PCB constitutes local monitoring committee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 20, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

PCB constitutes local monitoring committee

By Shyama Rajagopal

KOCHI, AUG. 19. The State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has constituted a people's monitoring committee called the Environmental Audit for Eloor Area as per the recommendation of the Supreme Court monitoring committee on hazardous waste.

The committee will be chaired by K.P. George, Chief Engineer, PCB, Ernakulam, and will be represented by various industrial bodies and environmental protection organisations.

Environmental audit

Speaking to The Hindu , the PCB chairman, Paul Thachil, said the committee would undertake an environmental audit of all the industrial units in the Eloor and Edayar belt.

The audit would involve the study of the raw materials, production process, products, and the waste generation points. It will also note the unit's compliance with environmental laws, unauthorised disposal of waste and the environmental-friendly status maintained by the unit. The terms of reference would also include identifying and sealing of unauthorised outlets and, finally, to identify a site in Eloor for a common hazardous waste disposal system. The committee has to submit the report before October 31.

The convenor of the Committee will be the Senior Environment Engineer at the PCB's Ernakulam Regional Office, K.K. Abdur Rehman. The representative of the Edayar Small Scale Industries Association, the chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries, Kerala Chapter, T.R. Raghulal, or his nominee, the spokesman of the Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy, Purushan, Eloor; the State treasurer of the Public Union of Civil Liberties, Jacob Lazar, and the Assistant Environment Engineer of the PCB Central Laboratory in Ernakulam, Rajeevan, have been appointed as other members of the committee.

The committee was formed in response to the demand of the environment protection activists and the laxity found by the Supreme Court monitoring committee on the part of the PCB in making industries comply with the apex court orders on pollution control.

PCB's inaction

The monitoring committee, which had visited the city last week, had found that the PCB was not taking stringent action against industries that have been disposing hazardous waste in the Periyar, one of the major lifelines of the State. The industrial units in the Eloor and Edayar belt are likely to incur a heavy fine across the board. Some of the units are also likely to face closure for non-compliance with environmental regulations.

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