Lack of subsidised PNG connection, poor waste management plan led to industrial shutdown in Delhi; long-term solution need of hour

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is passing and endorsing orders, and new bans are being imposed by the highest court. When pollution is at its peak, it is visible both in its character and in its impact on human health. So, national attention, judicial priority, time and money are pumped into it. However, once the smog clears, follow ups on green policies seldom take place. One sector that is facing the brunt of this form of seasonal, last-minute governance is the industrial sector. On Monday, nearly 300 industrial units were shut down in two industrial towns in the North West Delhi: Narela and Bawana. Why? Because the units hadn’t converted to Piped Natural Gas (PNG). On Thursday evening, members of traders’ associations from both these places met Delhi’s Environment Minister Imran Hussain. Firstpost interacted with traders and representatives, who were a part of the meeting. [caption id=“attachment_5494801” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Pallavi Rebbapragada[/caption] “On 29 October, the Delhi Pollution Control Commission (DPCC) sealed 291 industrial units which hadn’t replied to their notices regarding the switch to PNG,” said Rajeev Goyal, trader from Bawana. Some of the concerns industry representatives raised before the minister were the delay in getting the PNG connection due to inspections and safety checks by private companies, and the problem of non-removal of garbage by Bawana Infra, a company responsible for the redevelopment and municipal management through issues like street lights and drainage. Traders from Narela raised the issue that the waste-to-energy plant Ramky Enviro Engineers was prohibited by the MCD from collecting industrial waste until Environment Pollution Control Committee’s chairman Bhure Lal’s recent go-ahead. Thus, the waste has been piling up along the streets because even the landfills in the two areas were barred from accepting it. The traders stated that on their request, a subsidy of Rs 50,000 - Rs 1 lakh on a new PNG connection for industries, was promised by the minister. Pradeep Multani, president, Delhi Factory Owners Federation, said that micro, small and medium units in both Narela and Bawana are responsible and authorised industrial areas and are willing to convert to natural gas. “The subsidies to convert to PNG should be expedited. We have written to the Delhi government time and again,” he explained and shared a copy of the letter addressed to Hussain. Prakash Chand, president of the traders’ association at Bawana, said that minimum charges of PNG add to the burden of the industry that also pays minimum charges for electricity, which increases the production cost. [caption id=“attachment_5494821” align=“alignnone” width=“600”] After work was halted on Thursday morning, labourers sitting below an flyover construction site in Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. Pallavi Rebbapragada[/caption] Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) reserves the right to levy minimum charges in the bill towards recovery of administrative costs. Currently, if the consumption in a bi-monthly billing cycle is less than 4 SCM, the consumer is liable to pay minimum charges equivalent to 4 SCM value. In unauthorised areas, Chand revealed that people are burning residual industrial oils and furnace oils mixed with kerosene, but the police doesn’t catch hold of them because there are no records. He said that IGL’s first priority is to supply PNG to Bawana Pragati Power, which generates electricity, then to domestic households and finally to industrial units. Traders asked if the densely packed residential localities in the two areas have converted to PNG or is the responsibility of green practices only theirs. “Unauthorised colonies where the route to one room is through another aren’t most suited to PNG connections and exhausts and shafts need to be put in place and people need to be educated on its various benefits,” explained Harsh Khanna, whose NGO Jan Sewa Prayas set up camps in West Delhi’s Patel Nagar and suggested architectural interventions to enable many households to convert to PNG. It took three seasons of smog for the state and the Central government to impose a more eco-friendly fuel on industries. Anumita Roychowdhary, head of the air pollution and clean transportation programme at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told Firstpost that the comprehensive action plan for a long-term strategy for all key sources of pollution in Delhi and National Capital region was notified in June this year. “The finalisation and the notification got delayed quite a bit,” she pointed out adding some portions of it have been implemented. Specifically, the use of pet coke and furnace oils has been banned, the Bharat Stage (VI) transport fuel has been introduced in Delhi, the brick kilns have been asked to switch to greener technologies and the much-needed crackdown on the highly polluting thermal power plant in Badarpur, now finally on the brink of shutting down. [caption id=“attachment_5494861” align=“alignnone” width=“750”] Traders have been demanding subsidy for PNG ever since it became mandatory to switch over from diesel, earlier this year. Pallavi Rebbapragada[/caption] Going forward, these can foster sustainability in industries but the implementation requires co-operation of multiple state governments. A 2018 report titled ‘ A roadmap towards cleaning India’s Air ’ by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, https://epic.uchicago.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/POLICY-BRIEF-A-ROADMAP-TOWARDS-CLEANING-INDIAS-AIR-1-1.pdf makes a noteworthy observation: ‘In 2014, the CPCB mandated the installation of Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) across 17 categories of highly polluting industries. CEMS can supply regulators with real-time emissions data. The report stated that substantial capacity-building efforts are needed to maximise the value of CEMS technology that can help enhance the effectiveness of policy options like public disclosure, monetary charges, and emissions trading. Interestingly, the emission inventory hasn’t been made public in the Central government’s National Clean Air Plan. The other industry that, unlike the concentration of units in Narela and Bawana, spills over onto the roads of Delhi NCR is the construction industry. The Delhi government has banned construction activity from November 1 to 10. According to DPCC, the open dumping of construction and demolition waste materials is a big contributor to air pollution, particularly of PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles. In a directive issued in April, DPCC asked the public works department (PWD) to ensure all construction and demolition waste generated from sites are stored in a manner least polluting. Experts feel the need of the hour is round-the-year spot fines on any contractor who doesn’t cover raw materials, especially while transporting, and doesn’t follow procedures for disposal because construction waste doesn’t degrade easily. The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 had a section on the complications of construction and demolition waste and a waste plant was set up at Shastri Park in Delhi on a private-public partnership with IL&FS subsequently. But, to establish an integrated system of disposal around this might take time. Last minute measures can suppress but not heal.