By end 2009, India will set a uniform limit for pollution across the country, making no distinction between industrial and residential areas, sources in the ministry of environment and forests said.
At present, for instance, the amount of `Respirable, Suspended Particulate Matter' (RSPM), a major pollutant, allowed in industrial areas is 120 unit grams per cubic metre (ug/m3), while the maximum tolerated in non-industrial ones is only 60 ug/m3.
"When air quality norms were first notified in 1994 most industrial areas were far away from residential areas," said a top ministry official. "With both industrial and residential areas expanding, this is no longer the case. There cannot be two different air quality standards for citizens living side by side."
The two adjoining west Delhi suburbs of Janakpuri and Mayapuri, for instance, are both equally polluted with RSPM levels of around 240 ug/m3. Yet Janakpuri is categorised a nonindustrial area, and Mayapuri, an industrial one. Thus the air in Janakpuri is regarded as four times more polluted than permissible -- the area is often cited as the most polluted in the city -- while Mayapuri is seen as only twice as polluted, though the residents of both areas breathe the same quality of air.
Of the 342 locations monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board, RSPM levels were higher than the norm in 78 per cent of the industrial areas and 87 per cent in the residential areas.
The new norms will set the same limits for industrial areas that exist for non-industrial ones. "Industry clusters will have to invest on pollutant trapping technologies," the official said.
"It will be a bigger challenge for the small industrial units than for the major ones," said Seema Arora, head of energy and climate change section in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). "Our big industries are comparable to the cleanest in the world."
"We'll provide our small industries incentives to adopt clean technologies," said Ajay Shankar, Secretary, Dept of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
By end 2009, India will set a uniform limit for pollution across the country, making no distinction between industrial and residential areas, sources in the ministry of environment and forests said.
At present, for instance, the amount of `Respirable, Suspended Particulate Matter' (RSPM), a major pollutant, allowed in industrial areas is 120 unit grams per cubic metre (ug/m3), while the maximum tolerated in non-industrial ones is only 60 ug/m3.
"When air quality norms were first notified in 1994 most industrial areas were far away from residential areas," said a top ministry official. "With both industrial and residential areas expanding, this is no longer the case. There cannot be two different air quality standards for citizens living side by side."
The two adjoining west Delhi suburbs of Janakpuri and Mayapuri, for instance, are both equally polluted with RSPM levels of around 240 ug/m3. Yet Janakpuri is categorised a nonindustrial area, and Mayapuri, an industrial one. Thus the air in Janakpuri is regarded as four times more polluted than permissible -- the area is often cited as the most polluted in the city -- while Mayapuri is seen as only twice as polluted, though the residents of both areas breathe the same quality of air.
Of the 342 locations monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board, RSPM levels were higher than the norm in 78 per cent of the industrial areas and 87 per cent in the residential areas.
The new norms will set the same limits for industrial areas that exist for non-industrial ones. "Industry clusters will have to invest on pollutant trapping technologies," the official said.
"It will be a bigger challenge for the small industrial units than for the major ones," said Seema Arora, head of energy and climate change section in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). "Our big industries are comparable to the cleanest in the world."
"We'll provide our small industries incentives to adopt clean technologies," said Ajay Shankar, Secretary, Dept of Industrial Policy and Promotion.