March 13: Taking note of pollution caused by chemical industries in the area, the Thane Municipal Corporation will conduct an Environment Impact Assessment. The survey, said TMC sources, will study the wind direction, the health hazards caused by chemicals or gases emitted as well as suggest ways to improve the environment.There are half a dozen hazardous industries in the area using hazardous chemicals and gases, said the source, adding that the TMC has ear-marked Rs 60 lakh for carrying out the assessment by specialised agencies like the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, the National Pollution Control Board as well as MNCs.
Emission levels will be monitored and samples drawn from there will be tested, he said. Mobile vans will also be pressed into service in Kolshet Balkum, where the maximum number of chemical industries are located.
Although pollution levels are yet to reach alarming levels in the area, water samples drawn from wells and storage tanks in housing societies indicate that thepollution levels were also not negligible.
Both TMC commissioner T Chandrashekhar and member secretary of the National Pollution Control Board, Dr S P Chaturvedi, have reportedly urged the Ministry of Environment and Forest to give more powers to civic chiefs to take action on those violating regulations. Civic bodies should get the legal power to prosecute such units which flout regulations and are often responsible for industrial mishaps which affect residents who live around such industries, it was stated.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
