Pollution board chief urged to revoke closure notices to cement units

Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 23

A delegation of the Federation of Industries-Jammu (FOIJ), led by Lalit Mahajan, chairman, along with Ajit Bawa, co-chairman, FOIJ, and president, Kathua Industrial Unit Association, representing the cement manufacturing units, today met SP Singh Parihar, Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, at his office in New Delhi and urged him for the revocation of closer notices issued to cement manufacturing units located in J&K.

During the course of discussion, Mahajan informed the Central Pollution Control Board Chairman that a number of cement manufacturing units had already installed the online monitoring equipment and accordingly the intimation communicated to the Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, by the State Pollution Control Board. But till date no action had been taken by the department to revoke the closer notices. This would result in a number of units closing down and thousands of employees losing jobs in near future.

Mahajan told the chairman that due to unrest in the state many times the state government had suspended the Internet services in the last three months, which made it difficult for the department to monitor the working of pollution control devices from outside the state. It was also brought to the notice of the chairman that in spite of the clearance given by the J&K State Pollution Control Board for the working of the online monitoring system in case of some units, the officials concerned failed to revoke the closure notices for the reason best known to them.

The Central Pollution Control Board Chairman assured the delegation that all the pending cases of the cement manufacturing units which had already installed the online monitoring system would be cleared immediately and the closure notices revoked accordingly for which the instructions had already been passed to the member secretary, Central Pollution Control Board.