Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board Chairman Dr. G. N. Phani Kumar informed that the Board held a review meeting with the Zonal and senior officers of the Board here on Thursday and it has decided to keep the Senior Officials of the Head Office and Zonal Officers as in-charge for two districts to take-up Special Drive to Monitor the validity of Consent for Operation of all the Industries and authorization to the Hospitals.
All units are expected to possess a valid Consent for Establishment and Consent for Operation. The CAG has pointed out in his report that quite a few units are functioning either without obtaining consents or with expired and in-valid consents. This situation has to be rectified. The Special Drive Officers should ensure that all units obtain valid consents. Those units which do not obtain consents during this drive will be candidates for regulatory action, the PCB Chairman said.
The Chairman said that municipal solid waste and municipal sewage are problem areas for Pollution Control Board. PCB was often blamed in the fast, for not taking action against erring Municipalities / Municipal Corporations. The Special Drive Officers should ensure that all Municipalities obtain authorization during this drive. They will also ensure that proposals for Sewage Treatment Plants are ready with the Municipalities indicating funds requirement. The special drive officers will also bestow their attention on the payment of CESS by Municipalities and Industrial units in the districts allotted to them, deserving their attention is the live and abandoned dump sites in Municipalities and Panchayats. They should undertake a census of all dump yards and approximate quantity waste. They contain and its calorific value.
Accordingly, the senior officials of the Board Office and Zonal Officers have been allotted the districts and have been directed to take-up special drives in the districts allotted to them within a month and monitor the validity of Consent for Operation of the units. They have been directed to submit the list of industries which do not have valid Consent for Operation to take further legal action. (INN)