Updates

In order to enforce environmental standards the Board monitors industrial activities and establishments for their compliance. The Board also monitors ambient air and water quality standards. In case of violation it issues directives to industries, imposes bank gurantee, directs for disconnection of electricity and issues closure order as applicable. Following is the recent list of such actions:

	Closure Order Issued	Closure Order Suspended	Electricity Disconnection	Electricity Restoration	Imposition of BankGuarantee	Forfeiture of BankGurantee
Jan 2005	21	09	20	11	04	Nil
Feb 2005	08	11	08	11	07	01
Mar 2005	17	08	16	09	08	Nil
Apr 2005	42	07	42	08	06	Nil
May 2005	42	11	41	12	16	Nil
Jun 2005	01	66	01	66	Nil	Nil
July 2005	15	15	15	15	12	Nil
Aug 2005	13	09	13	09	03	Nil
Sep 2005	05	03	03	03	07	Nil
Oct 2005	04	10	04	10	02	Nil
Nov 2005	Nil	01	Nil	01	Nil	Nil
Dec 2005	06	03	06	03	Nil	01
Jan 2006	14	08	14	08	05	Nil
Feb 2006	14	04	14	04	02	Nil
Mar 2006	74	07	69	07	06	Nil
Apr 2006	28	06	25	06	Nil	Nil
May 2006	40	14	40	17	07	Nil
June 2006	16	18	14	22	Nil	Nil
July 2006	15	16	16	16	Nil	Nil
Aug 2006	13	20	12	19	07	Nil
Sep 2006	01	01	01	02	01	Nil
Oct 2006	16	01	15	Nil	Nil	Nil
Nov 2006	19	45	19	Nil	03	Nil
Dec 2006	08	05	08	05	05	Nil
Jan 2007	05	05	04	07	Nil	Nil
Feb 2007	43	04	42	03	03	Nil
Mar 2007	35	07	34	07	11	01
Apr 2007	07	04	07	03	10	04
May 2007	04	04	01	03	07	Nil
Jun 2007	07	18	09	20	02	Nil
July 2007	05	04	04	02	06	Nil
Aug 2007	10	06	09	06	07	02
Sep 2007	02	07	01	05	07	Nil
Oct 2007	Nil	03	Nil	02	06	Nil
Nov 2007	10	Nil	08	Nil	04	02
Dec 2007	11	Nil	10	Nil	01	Nil
Jan 2008	04	05	04	04	02	Nil
Feb 2008	11	05	08	05	11	01
Mar 2008	06	03	06	03	04	Nil
Apr 2008	08	08	04	06	01	Nil
May 2008	16	01	07	01	02	Nil

Status of Hearing of Plastic Carry Bag for the period 31.07.2003 to 04.09.2003

Upon hearing, Hon'ble High Court, Calcutta, was pleased to pass a judgement on 12-10-2001 in connection with W.P. 7255 (W) of 2000 (Badal Chandra Mondal Vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.), wherein Hon'ble Court hold that Brick fields should not be operated from February to May every year which are situated within 1.6 kilometers from mango orchards.

This solemn order of the Hon'ble High Court, Calcutta, was also confirmed by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on 04-04-2003.

This order has also been communicated to all the District Land & Land Reform Officers for proper implementation.

Directions regarding Issue of Environmental Clearance/NOC in case of New Pulp & Paper Industries

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 18(1)(b) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and under Section 18(1)(b) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board is directed to issue NOC/Environmental Clearance to new pulp & paper industries subject to the following conditions:

Directions regarding Consents for the Mining Units

In view of received the serious public complaints regarding environmental pollution for mining activities, the State Board issued a direction upon the Director, Mines and Minerals, Government of West Bengal not to issue permission to any mining unit unless such unit obtain 'Consent to Establish' of the State Board. Click here to view the Direction

Directions regarding Setting up of Housing Complex

In exercise of the powers conferred under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board has issued a direction restricting Municipal Corporations, Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samities and Panchayats from sanctioning any building plan of housing complex having 100 flats or more, or with a super built up area of 60,000 sq. ft. Click here to view the Direction

In continuation of the earlier direction, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board has also issued a new direction restricting Municipal Corporations, Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samities and Panchayats from sanctioning any building plan of housing complexes of below 100 flats or covering a super built up area of less than 60,000 sq. ft. located within their jurisdiction. Click here to view the Direction

Stricter Emission standards introduced for transport vehicles in KMA

West Bengal Pollution Control Board and the Department of Environment, Government of West Bengal in exercise of the powers conferred under section 17(1)(g) and section 20 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 issued the following order:

“All four wheeled vehicles (other than passenger vehicles) with GVW equal to or less than 3500 Kg and vehicles with GVW exceeding 3500 Kg brought for registration before Registering Authorities in Kolkata Metropolitan Area shall on and from 23^rd October, 2001 conform to the respective norms specified for these categories of vehicles in the Central Motor Vehicles (2^nd Amendment) Rules, 2001 published vide Government of India Notification No. G.S.R. no. 286(E) dated 24.04.2001.”

Restriction on use, sale and manufacture of plastic carry bags in some specific areas

West Bengal Pollution Control Board, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 33A of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and under section 31A of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, issued a direction prohibiting use, sale and manufacture of plastic carry bags in the following areas with effect from 15^th September, 2001.

Restriction on use, sale and manufacture of coloured plastic carry bags of thickness less than 20 micron throughout the State

West Bengal Pollution Control Board and Department of Environment, Government of West Bengal under the provisions of ‘Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999’ prohibited use, sale and manufacture of plastic carry bags of thickness less than 20 micron throughout the state with effect from 1^st December, 2001.

Hon'ble Minister-in-Charge Environment, Tourism & Youth Affairs, West Bengal, Sri Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, in a Press Conference held at Paribesh Bhawan on 27th January, 2001 announced the actions which are under consideration of West Bengal Pollution Control Board and Department of Environment, Government of West Bengal for improving air quality of the city. The proposed steps include conversion of all the coal fired boilers operating within the city limit to oil fired ones and exploring the option of closing the operation of New Cossipore Thermal Power Station of CESC during the winter months when the air pollution level of the city is at its worst. He also informed that the State Government has been able to reduce the concentration of Respirable Particulate Matter in the city air gradually since 1997 which is also reflected in reduced mortality rate of the city population.

Department of Environment, Govt. of West Bengal has reconstituted a three member Appellate Authority under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Gitesh Ranjan Bhattacharjee, a retired judge of Calcutta High Court. This was done in conformity and direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India dated 27th January, 1999 in Civil appeal no. 368 to 271 and 372 & 373 of 1999 - A.P. Pollution Control Board etc. Vs. Prof. M.V. Nayudu (Retd.) and Ors. and under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. 1981. The other members of the Committee are Prof. Dipak Kumar Bhattacharyya, Emeritus Fellow, All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi and Prof. Pinaki Bhattacharyya, Head, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University .

In exercise of the power conferred by Rule 12 of the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 and its amendments, the Governor is pleased to constitute the Appellate Authority under the aforesaid Rule with immediate effect. The Appellate Authority shall consist of the following members, namely :

1. Hon'ble Mr. Justice Gitesh Ranjan Bhattacharya (Retd.) - Chairman.
2. Prof. Pinaki Bhattacharyya, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University - Member.
3. Prof. Dipak Kumar Bhattacharyya, Emiritus Fellow, All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi - Member.

In supersession of Notification No. EN/800/1E-25/95 dated 2nd May, 2000, and in exercise of power conferred by Rule 13 of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998, the Governor is pleased to re-constitute the Appellate Authority under the aforesaid Rule with immediate effect. The Appellate Authority shall consist of the following members, namely :

The members of the Appellate Authority shall hold office up to 18th May, 2006 from the date of the notification.

Appeals against the orders of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, made under the aforesaid Rules, shall be preferred to the above Appellate Authority.

Constitution of the Advisory Committee for implementation of Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules

In exercise of the power conferred by Rule 9 of the Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1988, the Governor is hereby pleased to re-constitute the Advisory Committee with the following members with immediate effect in supersession of notification of notification No. EN/475/1E-25/95 dated 16/3/99.

Minister-In-Charge, Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal	Chairman
Minister-In-Charge, Environment Department, Government of West Bengal	Vice-Chairman
Chief Secretary to the Government of West Bengal	Member
Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal	Member
Secretary, Municipal Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal	Member
Principal Secretary, Environment Department, Government of West Bengal	Member
Commissioner, Kolkata Municipal Corporation	Member
Commissioner, Howrah Municipal Corporation	Member
Member Secretary, West Bengal Pollution Control Board	Convenor Member

In terms of resolutions adopted by the Board in its 117th meeting held on 19.12.2000 and in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Board under section 15 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and sub section 3B of section 12 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board is pleased to enpower in addition to the Member Secretary of the State Board under section 25 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and under section 21, 24, 25, 26 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 as amended from time to time the In-charge of Regional Offices of the State Board within their respective region to grant or to refuse 'Consent to Establish' for the Small Scale Special Red category (excepting those attracting EIA notification of Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India) and other Small Scale ordinary Red/Orange/Green category of industries which are not looked after by the General Manager, District Industries Centres.

The WBPCB has started issuing hologram-affixed certificates since end-July 2003. Holograms are the quintessential method of protection against counterfeiting. The WBPCB have recently experienced various cases where industries were found to use false consent certificates and documents in the name of the Board. Due to reports of such forgery, the WBPCB had to take legal steps by lodging FIRs against the industries in different police stations (Click here to view the List of industries). Thus the use of hologram-secured certificates has been initiated to guarantee authenticity

The West Bengal Pollution Control Board in its 123rd meeting held on 29.11.2002, has revised application fees for Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate for industries (except Health Care Establishments) and local bodies and fees for processing of application for import of hazardous chemicals. The revised fee will come into effect from 15.01.2003. Click here to view the details.

Charges for sampling and analysis at the laboratories of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board

The West Bengal Pollution Control Board announces that any interested person or organization is welcome to get their samples analyzed for the listed parameters. The determinands and the rates for the tests are provided below. The regional offices of the Board may be contacted for further detail and process of submission of samples, receiving the reports and deposition of analysis charges.

In exercise of the powers conferred U/s. 17(2) of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and U/s. 17(2) of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board , is pleased to recognize 14 (fourteen) Laboratories up to 30-06-2004 subject to some terms and conditions for the purpose of analyzing certain parameters discharged from the industries or any other institutions.

(Click here to view the order & the list of recognized laboratories)

List of L.P.G. Kit Manufacturers / Importers and the L.P.G. Kit Retrofitment Centres in Kolkata authorized by the Transport Department, Government of West Bengal Click here

	Bharat Stage II Introduced in Kolkata Metropolitan Area
	Daily Air Quality Monitoring Data
	Hooghly River Water Quality Monitoring Data for September 2002
	Hooghly River Water Quality Monitoring Data for October 2002
	Howrah Air Quality Monitoring Data for 2002
	Haldia Air Quality Monitoring Data for 2001
	Haldia Air Quality Monitoring Data for 2002

District	Total No. of Unit Heard	Total No. of Unit Imposed Fine	Total Amount of Fine Imposed (Rs.)	Total Closure Recommended	Total Matter Released
Kolkata	125	51	2,24,500.00	9	65
Howrah	41	20	47,000.00	0	21
Hooghly	12	09	21,500.00	0	03
Burdwan	40	24	1,30,500.00	0	16
Birbhum	10	06	26,000.00	0	04
Bankura	10	06	22,000.00	0	04
Murshidabad	22	11	33,000.00	1	10
Purulia	08	0	0.00	0	08
24 PGS(N)	20	12	32,500.00	0	08
24 PGS(S)	37	19	90,000.00	10	08
Purba Medinipore	29	12	44,000.00	0	17
Paschim Medinipore	11	05	21,000.00	1	05
Total	365	175	6,92,000.00	21	169