Pollution in mining areas

LIFE: Pollution in mining areas

Category »  Editorial Posted On Wednesday, November 24, 2010

One of the emerging industrial hubs in the State  Singrauli  is plagued by spiralling pollution levels and it is in the right earnest that the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) has decided to conduct an environmental study of the area with the  cooperation of Housing and Environment Department, in order to prepare a sustainable environmental plan for the area.  The Board has also mooted a proposal to shift its Rewa-based regional office to Singrauli, to check the fast changing environmental situation in the area.  Singrauli is gifted with abundant natural resources like coal deposits, which feed the major industries across the country. As is the case with most of the regions with rich mineral reserves and mineral based industries and other allied industries, Singrauli too is reeling under a high pollution load. The district, home to a number of mineral-based industries including thermal power stations, is highly affected by coal mining, allied operations and emissions from diversified industries.  In this region the problems may be many. Mining operations, allied activities and the urban settlements and colonies that are in close proximity to each other, are all resulting in a growth pattern, which is mutually incompatible and environmentally unsustainable.  These activities are also disposing their waste in a haphazard manner, which could result in even higher levels of pollution, degraded land and choked and polluted streams.  Significantly, the Central Pollution Control Board has declared parts of Singrauli as problem areas. Government of Madhya Pradesh (Housing and Environment Department) and MPPCB have now decided to carry out a Rapid Environmental Study of the region, to identify the land parcels within the district suitable for further industrialisation.  This proposed task would include survey of existing industries, especially the compliance of conditions imposed by regulatory authorities, environmental monitoring and modeling, followed by the application of spatial planning tools.  The MPPCB has issued the notification, inviting Expression of Interests (EoIs) from consultant institutions, including academic institutions, autonomous bodies and other reputed organisations for the proposed environmental survey.  In view of the above fact, the Pollution Control Board of Madhya Pradesh government has taken a right decision, which will help tide over pollution problems in Singrauli. With this, it can also be hoped that the state government will undertake such steps in other mining areas of the state. Ataullah Faizan