Retaining pristine environment a challenge

Pratibha Chauhan

Faced with the task of cleansing air and water quality in its seven most polluted towns and an equal number of rivers, Himachal has embarked on a number of innovative measures to bring down the level of contamination and retain its pristine environment. 

Even as six towns of the state had made it to the list of top 10 cleanest cities in the country among the hill states, the increasing pollution levels in various urban areas, especially industrial hubs, has emerged as a major cause of concern for everyone. 

Several towns in the hill state are popular destinations, attracting tourists from all over the world. As such, retaining its pristine environment and cleanliness of rivers and water stretches, poses a major challenge to the authorities.

The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj had adjudged Mandi as the cleanest district among the hill states in the country. The state capital of Shimla was ranked third in this category with Hamipur getting the fifth, Kullu seventh and Chamba tenth all-India rank among the hill states’ category. However, industrial and vehicular emissions are affecting the air quality in a big way and construction of four lanes, national highways and roads on a large scale are only making the situation worse.

The absence of sewerage treatment plants (STPs) in a large number of towns is an area which needs to be addressed urgently. The example of sewage flow from the treatment plant above the Ashwani khud, the major water source supply to the state capital, had resulted in jaundice outbreak, two years ago, resulting in more than 20 deaths. There have been several other cases of such contamination with the sewage and water supply pipes running parallel, thereby posing a major threat to health safety.

The air pollution resulting from cement plants is another bane for people living in nearby villages. There have been several protests by the affected villagers near the ACC plant in Barmana, demanding reduction in air pollution levels, which had resulted in lung ailments such as asthma, tuberculosis and cancer to a sizeable population. Residents knocked the door of the High Court, following which a committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, was constituted. Residents of Sallapar, Kangu and Dehar panchayats in Bilaspur are suffering the adverse effects of air pollution due to the cement plant.

State’s industrial hub Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) houses 79 per cent of the state’s industries. There are as many as 295 red-category units evaluated as hazardous in Solan district, a majority of which are located in the BBN belt. They have a pollution index score (the measurement of concentration of air and water pollutants and their quantity) of 60 and above and are normally not allowed in the ecologically fragile areas. 

Industries such as lead acid battery manufacturing units, paper, organic chemicals, dyes and their intermediate manufacturers, cement, drugs, textiles, are located in the BBN. Many units have simply failed to abide by pollution control norms. The indifference to effectively operate effluent treatment plants is exposed during rains, when foamy, untreated effluents flow into the water bodies of the area. The water quality of various drains such as Sandholi, Malpur and Balad has deteriorated over the years and one finds black filthy water flowing out from these places. The State Pollution Control Board cites shortage of staff as a reason for its inability to effectively monitor the water quality on a regular basis.

Pollution level in seven rivers

The NGT expressed its displeasure through its order on September 29, 2018, regarding high pollution levels in certain stretches of Pabbar, Markand, Sukhna, Sirsa, Ashwani, Beas and Giri rivers. It was in repose to this order that the Department of Environment, Science and Technology constituted the Air Quality Monitoring Committee (AQMC) on November 22, 2018. On December 7, 2018, the department entrusted the task of looking into the causes of pollution and offering solutions to experts from IIT Roorkee, Mandi and National Institute of Hydrology in the seven rivers of the state. The experts have already submitted the action plan, which has been submitted for the approval of the Central Pollution Control Board. “We have submitted the action plan prepared by the experts to the CPCB, following which we will start implementing the recommendations, which will help us bring down the pollution levels,” says RK Pruthi, member secretary, State Pollution Control Board. The River Rejuvenation Committee (RRC) headed by Director Urban Development was also constituted on November 22 to oversee the entire exercise. There have been several instances of industrial units releasing effluents into the rivers. One such incident came to light when white froth was seen floating on river Balad due to release of untreated effluents by an industrial unit, in August last year. The froth continued to flow on water for several hours adversely affecting the aquatic flora and fauna. The Balad river further confluences into Sirsa River and the water quality of both rivers was adversely affected by the release of effluents, raising question over the role of regulatory authorities.

Poor air quality in seven towns

• With the NGT taking a stern view of the alarmingly high level of pollution, especially in industrial towns, the authorities have been pushed into taking corrective measures. On October 8, 2018, the NGT issued orders with regard to high air pollution levels in the seven towns of Baddi, Damtal, Kala Amb, Nalagarh, Poanta Sahib, Parwanoo and Sundernagar. 
• On November 22, 2018, the state government constituted the Air Quality Monitoring Committee (AQMC) to keep a watch on the high pollution levels in these seven most polluted towns. The state government assigned the task of looking into the causes for pollution and offering solutions to experts from IIT Kanpur.
• One of the very important components of the action plan would be regulating the number of vehicles and extent of construction activities in these towns in terms of carrying capacity. This will reduce emission levels. Guidelines will be accordingly framed to regulate vehicles and industries in these non-attainment cities with regard to high pollution levels.
• High pollution levels in the industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib have gone unchecked. Another major cause of air pollution is the carbon emissions from thousands of trucks ferrying cement from the cement factories.
• The action plan will include components such as identification of source of pollution and its apportionment considering sectors such as vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, dust pollution, construction activities, garbage burning, agricultural pollution, including pollution caused by burning of crop residue, residential and indoor pollution.
• The action plan shall consider measures for strengthening of AAQ monitoring and steps for public awareness including issuing of advisory to public for prevention and control of air pollution and involvement of schools, colleges and other academic institutions for awareness programmes.

Common Effluent Treatment Plant in Baddi under scanner

The working of the Common Effluent Treatment Plant in Baddi has also come under scanner from time to time as this plant was supposed to ensure the safe disposal of industrial effluents in this industrial belt, which houses 79 per cent of the state’s industry. The State Pollution Control Board had issued notices to almost a dozen industrial units and also recommended disconnection of power supply to the erring units.

River Name Polluted river stretch

Sukhna      Sukhna to Parwanoo

Markand     Kala Amb to Narayanpur

Sirsa   Nalagarh to Solan

Ashwani   Along Yashwant Nagar

Beas   Kullu To Dehragopipur

Giri           Along Sainj

Pabbar   Along Rohru

Book violators dumping industrial effluents in rivers: Himdhara Environmental Group

Special attention needs to be paid towards the monitoring and regulation of industrial pollution in areas such as Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh and Paonta Sahib. Common Effluent Treatment Plants have failed miserably and an effort needs to be made to monitor pollution at the source as well as treat effluents. Industries violating norms should face closure as well as punitive action rather than false threats and show cause notices only. The Himachal Pollution Control Board needs to be well-staffed and held accountable only then can the situation be brought under control. The State Environment Department should carry out regional consultations and prepare action plans for each river basin with the involvement of local community representatives, citizens’ groups, environmentalists and experts along with chosen government departments, said Manshi Asher from Himdhara Environmental Group.

Possible solutions

Even as the State Pollution Control Board is regularly monitoring the pollution levels and issuing notices to violators, it is resorting to the use of latest technology and new innovations, which could be path breaking in combating the problem 

Dust sweeping machine

One such measure taken by the HP State Pollution Control Board is an experiment using a dust sweeping machine, which is as good as a multi-utility power sweeper. To begin with, it has been taken up as a pilot project, which will be extended to all seven towns. It is equipped with a trolley, which stores collected dust by cleaning roads. The dust in turn will be used for making tiles with polythene. As dust from roads is the major sources of air pollution in state, the machine is expected to reduce the concentration of dust particles. Aimed at reducing air pollution along the national highways and other roads, the dust shall be used for making tiles, which will be used for the pavement of public places such as parks and service roads. “The trials of dust sweeping machines have been very successful, but we are keen on making some modifications, which includes increasing the size of the blade from the present 3 feet to 10 feet,” says RK Pruthi. He said the cost of each dust sweeping machine is about Rs 9 to Rs 11 lakh, depending on the attachments and it collects almost 300 kg dust in one go. The machine has been facilitated under the PPP mode through Pune-based entrepreneur Dr Gaurav Agarwal. The tiles made from the dust are non-glazed in four colours, which can be used in various public places.

Drones to identify polluters 

The Board has pressed into service drones to check pollution by industrial units in the BBN area. A thorough surveillance was undertaken with the help of drones on January 10, 2019, which helped in identifying polluted nullahs at Kishenpura and Manpura villages. Apart from this, about five pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturing units were found lax in complying with various norms as untreated effluents had been let out by them surreptitiously in this industrial belt. Sirsa river stretch was rated under Priority-III criteria by the Central Pollution Control Board based on the biological oxygen demand (BoD), which is dissolved oxygen needed by organisms to break organic material, content. It was found to be between 8 and 16 mg per litre as against the safe 3 mg per litre limit.

Setting up sewage treatment plants

With a Rs 17-crore sewage treatment plant (STP) being set up at Nalagarh and another one worth Rs 34 crore being set up in Baddi along with a separate solid waste management plant, the officials hope that water quality would improve considerably once these plants are commissioned. Work on 47 STPs has been completed, while the work is still on in 23 others. However, there are many towns which still do not have an STP, resulting in the flow of sewage into the catchment area of main water sources, posing a major threat of contamination. The State Pollution Control Board has been recommending primary treatment of effluents by industries before being released as a precautionary measure against damage to water bodies from effluent spill due to the damage to the conduit pipes.

‘Constant monitoring on in towns’

We are undertaking constant monitoring of both river and air pollution levels in almost all towns. With certain corrective measures, the water pollution index score in some of these river stretches has already shown a decline from 52 in January to 12 in February, last month. The action plan prepared by experts has been submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board and once it is approved, its implementation will begin. —RK Pruthi, Secretary, HP State Pollution Control Board