The National Green Tribunal on Monday asked the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to produce an exhaustive list of polluting industries in Noida so that liabilities can be fixed on them for damaging the environment. A period of two weeks has been granted to the pollution board to prepare and submit the list.

A bench of the tribunal headed by Justice VR Kingaonkar ordered the pollution board to furnish the list after it was contended on Monday that industrial units should also be made to compensate through the ‘polluter pays’ principle. The contentions were raised by the counsel for the petitioner in a case in which it has been argued that industrial pollution in Noida has resulted in adverse impacts upon the health of residents. “Industries that have bypassed environmental norms should be held responsible for the critical state of the air in Noida. Compensation paid by them should be used towards cleaning the air,” said Raj Panjwani, counsel for the petitioner.

Subsequent to filing of this case last year, a number of Noida industries upgraded their pollution control devices to control quality of emissions and effluents. The case had been filed in 2012 based on the results of a nationwide survey conducted by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in which Noida had been categorized as a ‘critically polluted area’ for scoring low on different parameters related to environmental pollution.

The petitioner has contended that though individual industries in Noida have begun regulating their functional mechanisms to cut down upon environmental pollution, they should not be allowed to go scot-free as far as their role in the past is reduced the city to a critically polluted area.

In order to take stock of the quantum of environmental pollution caused by industries, the pollution board has been asked to identify the nature of activity of each unit together with its date of establishment. The tribunal has asked the board to list those industries which have erred in installing or undertaking proper maintenance of their effluent treatment plants. The board will also have to enlist industries which cause pollution through improper maintenance of chimney stacks or through usage of old diesel-run generator sets.

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