KOCHI: The Greater Cochin industrial cluster area is critically polluted, according to the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) of the Central Pollution Control Board. The area has been ranked as the 24th polluted industrial cluster with an aggregate CEPI score of 75.08 out of 100. The area was also among the “existing critically polluted areas.” The indexing was carried out in association with the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and State Pollution Control Boards. The “health dimensions of environment including air, water and land” were considered for indexing. The board selected 88 industrial areas or clusters in consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Greater Cochin area was the only industrial cluster considered from the State.The report stated that areas with scores of 70 and above should be considered as critically polluted ones.
Those with the score between 60 and 70 should be considered as severely polluted areas and shall be kept under surveillance and pollution control measures efficiently implemented. In the case of the critically polluted clusters, the report suggested detailed investigations for assessing the environmental damage and formulation of remedial action plans. The water quality of the Cochin area got a CEPI score of 64 and air quality 57. The land component was given a score of 54. “A sub-index score of more than 60 shows a critical level of pollution in the respective environmental component, whereas a score between 50 and 60 shows a severe level of pollution,” the report said. According to the report that was released recently, 43 industrial areas/clusters were critically polluted, with respect to one or more environmental components.
For the Cochin area, ambient air quality parameters like suspended particulate matter, respirable particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide were considered, said M.S. Maithily, chief environmental engineer of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board Ernakulam region. Regarding the water quality, factors like pH, turbidity, presence of nitrates and sulphates and coliform bacteria were taken into account. The factors like population and the number of industrial units with effluent treatment plants were also considered while preparing the index, Ms. Maithily said. Ankleshwar in Gujarat topped the pollution list with a CEPI score of 88.5 followed by Vapi (88.09), Ghaziabad (87.37), Chandrapur (83.88), Korba (83), Bhiwadi Rajasthan (82.91) and Angul Talcher (82.09). The two clusters in Assam—Burnihat and Digboi—with scores of 46.26 and 44.55 were the least polluted clusters in the country.
Source: The Hindu, Dated: 1.1.2010
Those with the score between 60 and 70 should be considered as severely polluted areas and shall be kept under surveillance and pollution control measures efficiently implemented. In the case of the critically polluted clusters, the report suggested detailed investigations for assessing the environmental damage and formulation of remedial action plans. The water quality of the Cochin area got a CEPI score of 64 and air quality 57. The land component was given a score of 54. “A sub-index score of more than 60 shows a critical level of pollution in the respective environmental component, whereas a score between 50 and 60 shows a severe level of pollution,” the report said. According to the report that was released recently, 43 industrial areas/clusters were critically polluted, with respect to one or more environmental components.
For the Cochin area, ambient air quality parameters like suspended particulate matter, respirable particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide were considered, said M.S. Maithily, chief environmental engineer of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board Ernakulam region. Regarding the water quality, factors like pH, turbidity, presence of nitrates and sulphates and coliform bacteria were taken into account. The factors like population and the number of industrial units with effluent treatment plants were also considered while preparing the index, Ms. Maithily said. Ankleshwar in Gujarat topped the pollution list with a CEPI score of 88.5 followed by Vapi (88.09), Ghaziabad (87.37), Chandrapur (83.88), Korba (83), Bhiwadi Rajasthan (82.91) and Angul Talcher (82.09). The two clusters in Assam—Burnihat and Digboi—with scores of 46.26 and 44.55 were the least polluted clusters in the country.
Source: The Hindu, Dated: 1.1.2010
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