New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) The government on Monday told the Lok Sabha that it revised greenbelt and plantation norms for industries to balance land requirements with environmental needs.
In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said the changes were made on the recommendations of a committee and based on the “pollution potential” of different categories of industries.
“The rationale for the revised greenbelt/green cover norms is that industries with higher pollution potential such as red category industries and orange category industries need to develop more percentage of greenbelt in order to mitigate the pollution that emerges from the industrial activity,” he said.
Under the new norms notified through an office memorandum dated October 29, industrial estates must set aside a minimum of 10 per cent of their area as a common green area.
Red-category and orange-category units within those estates must develop 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively of their premises as greenbelt/green cover, the reply said.
For individual industrial units outside estates, the ministry said red and orange-category industries are required to develop 25 per cent and 20 per cent greenbelt/green cover in their premises.
These requirements may be reduced by 5 percentage points each if the units are not predominantly air polluting industries.
The ministry added that development of greenbelt/green cover for green and white industries is optional, except where a green-category industry has an air pollution score of 25 or more, in which case the industry must develop 10 per cent greenbelt/green cover within its premises.
To ensure compliance, the government has put in place a monitoring mechanism.
Industrial estates must submit half-yearly greenbelt status reports to the state pollution control boards (SPCBs)/pollution control committees (PCCs) and the integrated regional office (IRO) of the ministry, giving details such as canopy coverage, number of living trees, height and species, survival rate, supported by drone imagery.
Individual units must also file half-yearly reports as part of their environmental statements. Verification by IRO and SPCB/PCC will take place annually for estates and on a random basis for individual units. PTI GVS KVK KVK KVK
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