Kerala - Kochi

Periyar: PCB works out group fine

KOCHI: The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has come up with a formula to collect the Rs.2.5 crore collective penalty from about 50 industrial units in the Eloor-Edayar industrial belt for polluting the Periyar.

The move is part of the follow-up action being taken on a recommendation by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) on Hazardous Waste to implement the ‘polluter pays’ principle for rejuvenating the river. The board has exempted about 200 industrial units in the region from paying the penalty.

PCB chairman G. Rajamohan said the board was awaiting clearance from the Central Pollution Control Board for going ahead with the new formula.

The board had earlier received brickbats for not implementing the SCMC recommendation made in June, 2005.

According to the new formula, the penalty would be collected on the basis of the number of days of operation of a factory in violation of the hazardous waste rules since August 1989.

The annual turnover of the company during the period would be taken into account while determining the individual share.

For instance, if the turnover of a particular company is Rs.3 crore and the number of days of violation is 25, the penalty will be worked out by multiplying three with 25 and dividing the amount by the total turnover of all the companies found responsible for polluting the river.

If the total turnover of all the companies comes to around Rs.200 crore, the individual share of the company (with turnover of Rs.3 crore and number of days of violation is 25) would be arrived by dividing 75 with 200. The result would be multiplied with Rs.2.5 crore to find out the individual share.

S.D. Jeyaprasad, member-secretary of the board, said the proposal was finalised after holding discussions with the experts.

The paying capacity of the industrial unit was taken into consideration while arriving at this formula.

The proposal was mooted after the board found a recommendation by the National Productivity Council on fixing the individual share ‘unviable.’

Based on a directive by the Central Pollution Control Board, the State board had approached the Productivity Council to suggest a formula for fixing the individual share of the collective penalty. The total cost estimate of the study proposed by the council was Rs.1.10 crore.

The board informed the member-secretary of the Central board that it would have to spend at least Rs.1.60 crore (including the cost for environmental monitoring, sample and data collection from other agencies) to complete the study.

Board officials said there was no guarantee that the Rs.2. 5 crore penalty could be collected in full, as it is an arbitrary amount.

Even if it is collected, the cost of assessment and collection would be nearly 70 per cent of the fine to be realised, they said.

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