Odisha launches star rating system for industries to check pollution

  • | Tuesday | 18th September, 2018

"We have been working with researchers from energy policy institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India) to evolve the rating system for public disclosure. They will be given star rating from one to five with the most polluting industry getting one star while the industry with highest compliance rate with pollution control norms will get five stars. BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday introduced a system to rate industries based on the amount of pollutants generated by them. I am optimistic about reducing pollution through the new programme," said chief minister Naveen Patnaik while launching of the system here for the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) to follow.The introduction of the rating system would help people to know which industry is polluting their locality and what is the level of pollution, officials sources said. In the subsequent stages, it will cover all 136 industrial units across the state.

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday introduced a system to rate industries based on the amount of pollutants generated by them. They will be given star rating from one to five with the most polluting industry getting one star while the industry with highest compliance rate with pollution control norms will get five stars."We are committed to serving our citizens better. I am optimistic about reducing pollution through the new programme," said chief minister Naveen Patnaik while launching of the system here for the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) to follow.The introduction of the rating system would help people to know which industry is polluting their locality and what is the level of pollution, officials sources said. "We have been working with researchers from energy policy institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India) to evolve the rating system for public disclosure. We have also been obtaining pollution data through Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS)," said OSPCB chairman R Balakrishnan.OSPCB sources said the star rating is based on emission of particulate matter (PM 10) that is usually found near large manufacturing units like steel, cement and aluminum. "Initially, it will cover 20 industrial units. In the subsequent stages, it will cover all 136 industrial units across the state. The data can be monitoried online and the rating will be updated based on pollution data every month," said a scientist from the pollution panel, which has nominated its chief environmental engineer A K Swar as nodal officer of the star rating programme.Pollution board member secretary Debidatta Biswal said the rating will bring to the fore the industry that complies with pollution control norms and which has the least compliance. "Out of the three categories of industries - red, orange and green - as defined by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the ones coming under red category have been included in the rating system," Biswal clarified.In 2016, the CPCB incorporated some changes into the categorization system and brought bakery and confectionary units under orange category as well as the pollution scanner. Earlier, they were treated as green category industries.The state government had brought small and micro industries such as confectionary units and ice-cream factories under green category to facilitate ease of doing business in 2014.

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