Focus is on monitoring compliance with environmental pollution laws, says APPCB Chairman

The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) has laid renewed emphasis on monitoring the compliance with environmental pollution laws in various ‘hotspots’, especially the industrial belts of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Nellore, and contributing to the achievement of climate action goals. It is studying the good practices in pollution control being followed by other States and will adopt them in due course, says P. Krishnaiah, the newly appointed chairman of the APPCB.

Speaking to The Hindu on September 18 (Wednesday), Mr. Krishnaiah said that APPCB accorded due priority to safe disposal of plastic, construction and biomedical wastes, and water pollution.

Besides, attention had been paid to controlling air pollution in the industrial areas and also at mines, mainly including the granite quarries in Prakasam district.

Steps were being taken to spread awareness about the need for people to keep the environment clean, so that the State could contribute to the climate action goals. This was one area where the APPCB had a significant role to play, he observed.

Mr. Krishnaiah said the APPCB was preparing to streamline the implementation of pollution norms by the ‘red’ category industries, particularly the large number of pharmaceutical manufacturing units in the north coastal districts, such as those in the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City, near Visakhapatnam.

Industrial accidents

The role of the APPCB in preventing industrial accidents was being looked into in the wake of the recent major incident at Escientia Advanced Sciences Pvt. Ltd.

The APPCB had well established on-field and virtual monitoring systems required to enforce the pollution control laws across the spectrum of industries and other establishments, and no effort was being spared to fulfil its mandate, he said.

He said APPCB made a formal request to the AP Public Service Commission to recruit scientists and officers needed to do the statutory inspections at the earliest.

As on September 18, Andhra Pradesh has 1,114 ‘red’ category industries, excluding mines, and 3,504 and 1,133 industries in the ‘orange’ and ‘green’ categories respectively.