State's industrial units to be classified on pollution levels

PANAJI: Jan. 27, 2010 - The Goa State Pollution Control Board is in the process of classifying all the industrial units micro, small, medium and large in the state into Red, Orange and Green categories as per their pollution load, after which the same will be forwarded to the department of science, technology and environment, for its approval.
Presently, the GSPCB gives consent to the industrial units to operate under the Air and Water Act, with the permission having a fixed validity period. However, the Board is now proposing to extend this period depending on the category of the industry.
The draft of the categorisation proposal has been discussed by a sub-committee headed by the director of Industries and comprising other members of the Board, and follows the categorisation of the industries as done by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi.
The industries proposed to be included under the Red category pertains to aluminium smelter, copper smelter, cement, distillery including fermentation industry, dyes and dye intermediates, fertilisers, iron and steel, oil refinery, pesticides, petro chemicals, pharmaceuticals excluding formulation, pulp and paper, sugar, tanneries, thermal power plants and zinc smelter, besides those linked to anodising, asbestos, ceramic/ refractory, electro-chemicals, coke making, coal tar distillation, common effluent treatment plant, explosives including detonators, fuses, etc, fire crackers, glass and fibre glass production and processing, glue and gelatine, heavy engineering excluding assembly, hot-mix plants, incineration plants, organic chemical manufacturing, milk processing or dairy products, par boiled rice mills, paint sand varnishes, stone crushers, potable alcohol, tobacco products, synthetic rubber, automobile manufacturing/ assembly, foundries, manufacture of printed circuit boards, hospitals and pathological laboratories, ports and harbours used for cargo, common/ captive hazardous waste treatment facility, common bio-medical treatment facility and so on.
The industries proposed to be included under the Orange category pertains to automobile servicing and repairs station, brick manufacturing, cotton ginning spinning and weaving, distillery excluding fermentation industry, fish processing, flour mills excluding domestic aatta chakki, instant tea/coffee processing, laboratory chemicals involving distillation, purification process, laboratory wares, lead-acid battery reconditioning/ assembling, manufacture of mirror from sheet glass, manufacture of synthetic detergent intermediates, manufacture of soaps, pesticides/ insecticides/ fungicides/ herbicides/ agro-chemical formulation, plywood and board manufacturing, pre-boiled rice mills, pulping and fermenting of coffee beans, tyres and tubes, wire drawing, photographic film cutting, restaurants excluding tea stalls, non-alcoholic beverages/ soft drinks, saw mills, malted food, extraction of oil from coconut, mobile DG sets, laundries, ice-cream making, commercial caterers, bio-tech industries and so on.
The industries proposed to be included under the Green category pertains to assembly of air coolers, conditioner and heaters, assembly of bicycles, baby carriages, and other small non-motorised vehicles, bamboo and cane products, block making for printing, cardboard or corrugated box and paper products, carpet weaving, chilling plants and cold storage, cotton and woollen hosiery, electronics equipment, footwear (rubber and PVC), fountain pens, gold and silver smithy, gold and silver thread zari work, ice-cream and ice-cream making, light engineering, assembling of computers and computer peripherals, medical and surgical instruments, oil ginning/expelling, optical frames, paper pins and U-clips, plastic and PVC processed goods, power looms/handlooms, printing press, radio assembling, rice hullors, ropes, cordages and fishnets, rubber goods industry, shoe lace manufacturing, scientific and mathematical instruments, sports goods, spices and areca nut grinding, toys, packaging of food including fruits and vegetables, apparel making, bakery products, tailoring and garment making, candles, carpentry, steel trunks and suitcases, aatta chakkis, programming and software development, photo framing, ice candies, cashew seed processing and so on.
For small scale industry under Green category, the consent validity will be extended to 15 years, while for those under Orange category, the validity will be 12 years. For small scale industry under the Red category as well as for large and medium scale industry of all categories, the consent validity is proposed to be two years. The hotels will also be categorised depending on the number of rooms and the consequent pollution load. Under the new scheme, the GSPCB will combine all three application forms required for air, water and hazardous waste consents, with details of all three aspects on one sheet.