Arduous exercise needed to obtain environment clearance
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 13: Notwithstanding the fact that Planning Commission of India has painted a gloomy picture vis-à-vis disposal of hazardous waste in Jammu and Kashmir and stressed the urgent need for treatment of waste in most scientific manner, the proposed common hazardous waste management facility including incineration at Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) Samba, is unlikely to come up in near future as onerous exercise is yet to be carried out to get mandatory clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that Planning Commission of India in a recent meeting with the State bureaucrats observed that Jammu and Kashmir has been performing poorly in respect of disposal of hazardous waste.
“It is a matter of serious concern that no facility has been created for disposal of hazardous waste generated in the State”, Dr Biswajit Banerjee, Director E&F Division of the Planning Commission, said in the meeting while pointing out that only 53% of bio-medical waste is treated in Jammu and Kashmir, which is posing a great risk to the environment as well as to human beings.
Though the State Government authorities apprised the Planning Commission that construction of common hazardous waste management facility at Industrial Growth Centre, Phase-II, Samba, Mandhera village would begin soon and take care of treatment of balanced hazardous waste as well as bio-medical waste yet the project is unlikely to see the light of the day in near future as onerous exercise is yet to be carried out to get mandatory clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, without which not even a single forward step can be taken, sources said.
Sources said that task of setting up of hazardous waste management facility including incineration at a cost of Rs 149.58 crore has been entrusted to Hyderabad-based M/s APR Projects Ltd by the Jammu and Kashmir State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (SIDCO) and around 60 kanal of land has also been allotted to the company following the in-principle approval to the project by an Apex Committee headed by Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal.
No time-frame can be specified within which the project aimed at collection, transportation, treatment, re-use, recycle, blending and disposal of industrial hazardous wastes, bio-medical waste and e-waste generated in the State would take off keeping in view the detailed exercise yet to be carried out on 16 points additional Terms of Reference (TOR) recently finalized by the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, sources said.
The Committee has directed M/s APR Projects Ltd to identify the critical environmental aspects with reference to proposed facilities—bio medical waste, e-waste, oil recycling and HW facility. It has also sought the details of the compliance with respect to the provisions of Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Trans-boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 and Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 including collection and transportation design.
The Expert Appraisal Committee has also sought to know the action plan and infrastructure required to comply the protocol as prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board for performance evaluation and monitoring of the facility.
It has also sought details about air pollution control measures, Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan, comprehensive disaster management plan including emergency evacuation during natural and man-made disasters. Moreover, the company has also been asked to conduct study vis-à-vis the impact the facility will leave on ground water, sources said.
Moreover, the company has been asked to conduct public hearing as per the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 and indicate the steps taken to address the same in the Environment Management Plan to be submitted to the Ministry, sources said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel