All industrial units along with restaurants and eateries in the State operating without valid permission, regardless of their category, face the danger of closure within the next three weeks.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has begun implementing a May 8 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directing all states to crack the whip on illegal units functioning without consent and file an action-taken report to it.
The order was passed by the Principal Bench in New Delhi while adjudicating a matter between an industrial unit and the Punjab Pollution Control Board.
According to the order, all state pollution control boards were to act on units in their jurisdiction operating without consent and violating the Air and Water Acts.
“We further direct the concerned Pollution Control Board/Boards and the CPCB to file Action Taken Report in the Registry of the Tribunal within three weeks and ensure that all the procedures for sealing illegally run/operated factories/units is immediately undertaken without waiting for any further order,” the judges said.
Sources in TNPCB told Express the order was communicated through a letter by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) last week.
“The process of enumerating such industries has begun. We will complete it in the next two weeks and take action. The report, as asked by the tribunal, will be sent on time,” TNPCB Chairman Karthikeyan told Express.
However, he claimed the impact of the order in Tamil Nadu would be minimal as the number of units without consent is “very little”.
“We did an inventory of over 40,000 such units last year and almost all of them had valid permission. What we are doing now is identifying those units that have stayed outside our scanner and close them down if they do not have valid papers,” Karthikeyan maintained.