Post News Network
Rourkela, Dec 1: Cracking their whip on firms flouting pollution control norms, pollution control board officials seized bank guarantees worth Rs 51 lakh of five sponge iron plants for their failure in installing online stack monitoring system (a machinery to measure level of smoke emanated from plant chimneys), said regional officer of the Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) Mukesh Kumar Mahaling Tuesday.
The money seized was pledged by the concerned plants as bank guarantees with the promise to install the monitoring system within the stipulated period.
In the first phase, action was taken against Adhunik Metalics (Rs 34 lakh of bank guarantee seized), Swastik Ispat Pvt Ltd (Rs 7 lakh), two units of Thakur Prasad Soy and Sons (Rs 10.5 lakh) and Jai Iron and Steel Ltd (Rs 3.5 lakh). Similar action will be taken against other plants in subsequent phases, Mahaling said.
According to reports, the Central Pollution Control Board in its bid to free the atmosphere of pollution had issued notices to all its regional counterparts asking them to oversee installation of online stack monitoring systems within a period of 90 days in polluting industrial units in their regions.
Acting on the directive, OSPCB authorities issued notices to 17 types of various industrial units including cement, fertilizer, oil refinery, power plants, copper, iron and steel based plants asking them to install the monitoring system within 90 days. It is however, alleged that many sponge iron and cement plants failed to implement the order within the stipulated period.
The region pollution board also identified 43 sponge iron plants and four power, cement and integrated steel plants as contributors to pollution and asked them to install the monitoring system by March 31, 2015.
Accordingly, the plant owners were also asked to pledge 25 per cent of their project cost as bank guarantee to install the monitoring systems. However, the plant owners never implemented the order within the stipulated time following which the action was taken against them, Mahaling said. PNN
