Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board monitors pollution levels In Cuddalore SIPCOT

       For over four years I have been a regular visitor to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on Anna Salai for news. At a personal level, I have also been curious about finding a solution to Chennai's noise and ambient air pollution issues. But all that the TNPCB has been able to offer me is a table on the levels of air, water and noise pollution on a regular basis.

I have often asked them if they were aware of the blaring noise of horns or the increase in pollution levels caused by the city's slow-moving traffic. The responses varied from recalling how a few former bureaucrats had performed well in removing air horns to being under-staffed and therefore, overworked. While the city is grappling with increasing pollution levels, the monitoring agency is struggling to cope with a whole range of challenges.

        With just 670 employees, the board manages over 23,000 files of industries in various categories and also monitors urban pollution levels. In the Cuddalore SIPCOT industrial estate, there are 31 toxic chemical industries and there are just two people there. These people are in-charge of the entire district — what will they take care of, ask activists. At times, applications for consent to set up and operate industrial units await clearance for months together. Until two years ago there were nearly 2,000 industries around Chennai that operated without consent from the TNPCB.

          People who have been associated with the TNPCB for long say that the Board is not as effective as it used to be as it is bogged down by too much work. To make the system perform at optimum levels, there is a need for recruitment of people in the scientific cadre with a background in environment. Roles of officials are not clearly defined and this leads to staff doing what they can to monitor pollution levels, without much coordination. TNPCB needs to ensure accountability, if it is really serious about addressing the issue of increasing pollution levels in the city.

      Monitoring of air, water and noise pollution must be more effective and this might require more monitoring stations across the city. Achieving this should not be difficult, considering that funds are not a constraint. Clear long- and short-term goals must be set for every city and industrial region.This would help officials understand what they are looking at and take initiatives. TNPCB's laboratories need to be upgraded and must go in for National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and ISO 14000 accreditation and keep improving their performance. Experts have also called for the setting up of an environment protection authority like in the United States. Such an agency would provide direction to the board. Its purpose would be to protect residents from risks to their health and the environment where they live in, learn and work. The scope of the Board should be expanded to more areas including indoor air pollution, ocean pollution, pesticides and drinking water. It's high time the government considered revamping TNPCB.

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TNPCB Show-cause notice issued to Cuddalore Nagarjuna Oil Corporation

            The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has issued a show-cause notice to the Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd, located at Kayalpattu in Thiruchopuram near here, asking the company why penal action should not be taken against it for violating the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and raising a structure without obtaining the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance.

            In the notice the TNPCB has stated that the unit has started establishment of the marine terminal facility by providing a temporary bridge measuring 450-metre long, 6-metre wide and 6-metre above mean sea level, starting from the shoreline into the sea. It has also noted that the unit has started providing pilings to a length of 261 metre in the sea for construction of an approach trestle. The unit has constructed four sheds in the CRZ area to carry out the construction activity and has also revived the jetty, without getting CRZ clearance, to facilitate the barge services to bring heavy equipment for the refinery.

            When contacted, District Environmental Engineer (TNPCB-Cuddalore) A.Raja said that following the show-cause notice, the company had stopped the works on the construction of the temporary bridge. It could revive the works only after getting due clearance. Meanwhile, executive secretary of the Consumer Federation Tamil Nadu M.Nizamudeen told presspersons that the construction of the temporary bridge by the company had caused sea erosion in the nearby coastal villages and affected the fishing community.

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Now industries can file Pollution Control Board application online

        Industries can file the application for consent online with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) from anywhere in the State.

         At present, applications for various consents and authorisation are obtained from the district offices concerned of the TNPCB and submitted back to the same office, resulting in likely delays. In many cases, the applications are incomplete or filled with vague, irrelevant information. There are cases where the required documents were not attached and the forms had to be returned seeking clarifications, say officials.

          As the district offices are not guiding industries and local bodies in filling the application and sufficient time is not given to make the applicant through with the process, the TNPCB has come up with the system for online filing of the application.

        Minister for Backward Classes and Environment T.K.M. Chinnayya launched the online application filing arrangement on Wednesday. The TNPCB, in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Chennai, has developed the software for the online filing arrangement. 

             The website www.pcboac.tn.nic.in has the list of procedures to be followed by industries.

                   The address of the district offices, the Air and Water Acts, the fee details, list of hazardous waste, documents to be submitted, relevant government orders and instructions and procedures to be followed are all available online. There is a sample filled-in online application form for the benefit of new users. Rameshram Mishra, chairman, TNPCB, said that the present practice of filing in district offices will continue till the online system stabilises.

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Acid leak purely an accident, says TNPCB

CUDDALORE: 

        Top officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board have said that the acid leak that created lot of fumes in the unit run by the Shasun Chemicals and Drugs Ltd in the SIPCOT Industrial Estate here on Monday night was an accident and it was not posing any life threatening situation.

         Additional Chief Environmental Engineer of the TNPCB (Chennai) S.Balaji told The Hindu that soon after information about the incident he went to the unit for spot inspection. He found that the bottles containing bromine stored in saw dust filled wooden boxes spilled due to mishandling and it reacted with the hydrochloric acid kept nearby. This had created dense fumes that spread over the nearby places.

         It was his immediate endeavour to control the fumes for which certain speedy measures were taken. To contain the fumes slaked lime was sprinkled over the chemicals and now the situation was well under control. Deputy Chief Scientific Officer (forensic wing of the TNPCB) R.Dhanasekaran said that it was a pure accident as the broken bottles containing bromine might have triggered the fumes. Now the fumes were brought under control and also the pungent odour.

        For every chemical spillage appropriate measures ought to be taken as stipulated and this was being done in a careful manner in this case. He underscored the point that public safety was well assured and there was no need for panic. Mr. Balaji further said that with the staff of the company the chemical substances were being removed in a safe manner. In this context, he said that awareness should be created among the local residents about the hazards of living close to chemical units.

        Conducting mock drills frequently on how to tackle such exigencies would keep the local community well informed, Mr Balaji said. When asked how long the unit should remain closed, Mr Balaji said that he would visit the company after some time to evaluate the situation and take a decision.

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Fishes found dead along Cuddalore coastline

Sad sight: Dead fishes, swollen and deformed with rashes all over body, were washed ashore in Cuddalore on Tuesday. 

 

CUDDALORE: 

                  The six-km coastal stretch from Chithiraipettai to Rasapettai, near here, was found littered with dead fishes on Monday evening. Strong odour from the putrefying fishes prompted the Village Administrative Officer to alert the Fisheries Department and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

                        The swollen and deformed fishes with rashes all over the body were found strewn along the coastline villages of Chithiraipettai, Sothikuppam, Nochikadu, Thammanampettai and Rasapettai. T. Devanathan (50), a resident of Nochikadu, told this correspondent that such a mass of fishes washed ashore was an unusual sight. The fishes had their fins and skins peeled off and blotch of blood frozen on their body.

                  He identified the fish species as ‘keluthi’ (cat fish), ‘vanjiram,’ ‘paarai,’ ‘keechan’ ‘kanankathai’ and sea cat, with ‘keluthi’ having suffered the most. General Secretary of the Consumer Federation Tamil Nadu M.Nizamudeen said that the dead fishes were seen on the shoreline between the common effluent treatment plant of the SIPCOT industrial estate and the jetty of a private chemical company. It was for the officials to conduct a proper enquiry and laboratory tests to take necessary remedial and punitive measures. District Environmental Engineer (TNPCB) D. Sekar, and Assistant Director of Fisheries R. Ilamparithi, who inspected the spot.

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