No equipment,so GPCB outsources air monitoring

J V Patel,Regional Officer,GPCB,said,“A private firm has taken just one sample in the last two months to monitor these indicators.”

Towards end of the last year,the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had lifted the ban on new industries in Vapi,which was on the second spot in the Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI) until last year.

The report said: “Vapi Gujarat Industrial Developmental Corporation (GIDC) is having an overall CEPI of 88.09 which qualifies it for the critically polluted tag on the CEPI score. Vapi has an Air CEPI index of 74,Water CEPI index of 74.5 and and land CEPI index of 72 and ranks second with an overall CEPI index of 88.09.”

The GPCB report added that a total of 151 industries were served with closure notices,but little had improved. “For the last two years,151 industrial units have been issued closure notices by GPCB under the Water Act,1974 and the Air Act,1981. Besides,industrial units have been issued notice of direction under environment norms,” said the GPCB report.

Contrary to stringent monitoring by GPCB on air and water pollution,the latest Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitoring report about Vapi Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) filed on March 23,2011 and released last month showed a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of 523 in the outlet against the prescribed norm of 250 points.

The Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the outlet was 122 against the stipulation of 30 points and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) levels was 8,376 points against 2,100 points.

The ammonical nitrogen level was in excess of the prescribed 50 points in the outlet.