Pollution
Pollution Control efforts in India have a long history dating back to the British rule. The Shore Nuisance Act, 1853, the Indian Penal Act, 1860, the Indian Easement Act, 1882, the Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act, 1905, the Bombay Smoke Nuisance Act, 1912 and the Motor Vehicles Act 1939 were some of the pioneering legislative attempts at abatement of pollution. These were at best a piecemeal approach to environmental regulation, based on the law of torts. The courts on the basis of proper representation by the affected people could only take action against pollution. In this scenario, litigation prolonged and penalties hardly served as deterrents.
* In the post-independence period, there was a spate of legislation, which, inter alia, attempted to deal with pollution. These included the Factories Act, 1948, the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, the River Boards Act, 1956, the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, the Insecticides Act, 1968, the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Act, 1970, and the Radiation Protection Rules, 1971. All these Acts dealt incidentally with pollution and proved ineffective in handling it. River pollution zoomed up while these Acts remained on paper. Absence was felt of a specialized institution to oversee and implement environmental regulation.
* The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the culmination of over a decade-long deliberations between the Central and State Governments, provided for the establishment of Boards for Prevention and Control of Pollution of water. These Boards were entitled to initiate proceedings against infringement of environmental law, without waiting for the affected people to launch legal action. The Water Cess Act, 1977, supplemented the Water Act by requiring specified industries to pay cess on their water consumption. With the passing of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act in 1981, the need was felt for an integrated approach on pollution control. The Water Pollution Control Boards were thereby authorized to deal with air pollution too and were henceforth called Central/State Pollution Control Boards.
* The Bhopal Gas tragedy, which occurred on 3rd December 1984, precipitated the tightening of environmental law. In 1985, the Department of Environment (DOE) was transformed into the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) with greater powers. The umbrella act called the Environment (Protection) Act got passed in 1986 encompassing water, air, land and other inter-relationships. The Act identified MoEF as the nodal agency in pollution control. The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 were, subsequently, notified to facilitate the exercise of the powers conferred on the Boards by the Act, 1986.
* The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 requires the ‘occupier’ of hazardous wastes who possesses a facility for collection, reception, treatment, transport, storage and disposal of such wastes to make an application to the SPCB for grant of authorization for any of the above activities. The Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 supplemented the former. The Public Liability Insurance Act was passed in 1991 to provide for public liability insurance for the purpose of giving immediate relief to persons affected by accidents occurring while handling hazardous substances. The Public Liability Insurance Rules were promulgated in 1991 and an Environment Relief Fund was created to facilitate the exercise of the powers conferred by the Act, 1991. The National Environmental Tribunals Act was passed in 1995, to provide for strict liability for damages arising out of accidents occurring while handling hazardous substances, and, for the establishment of a National Environmental Tribunal, to ensure effective and expeditious disposal of cases arising out of such accidents with a view to giving early relief and compensation to affected persons, properties and environment. The National Environmental Appellate Authority Act, 1997, provides for an authority to hear appeals with respect to restriction of areas in which industries, operations or processes shall not be carried out.
* Apart from the measures of command and control embodied in the above acts and Rules, the Government of India has, time to time, offered many economic incentives for units endeavoring to control pollution. The scheme of ECO-Mark, introduced in 1991, operates on a notional basis and provides accreditation and labeling for products, which satisfy certain environmental criteria along with quality requirements of the Indian Standards. Other incentives include rebate offered on water cess to units implementing pollution control measures and meeting the standards, investment allowance to the actual cost of the new machinery or plant which assists in controlling pollution, exemptions in indirect taxes, income tax, etc.
* Of late, judiciary has been taking active interest in matters relating to environmental pollution and in compensating for the ill effects of pollution on affected areas. In some States, ‘Green Benches’ have been created to dispose off environmental cases quickly.
The air pollution control portion of the cluster rule includes:
* Collect & Incinerate
* Pulping process vents
* Oxygen dezincification process vents
Scrub
* Bleach Plant Process vents
Steam Strips
* Digester foul condensates
* Evaporator foul condensates
* Turpentine recovery waste water
The gas vent collection points include:
Low volume high concentration (LVHC) streams
* Digester blow or NCG system
* Digester relief or turpentine recovery system
* Evaporator non condensable gases and evaporator hot well gases
High Volume Low concentrations (HVLC) Streams
* Foam breaker tank or filtrate tank
* Weak black liquor tanks
* Knotted system
* Brown stock or pulp washer
* Decker and screens ( new sources only)
* Oxygen dezincification and washer
The streams would be collected and incinerated in a stand-alone unit and /or existing devices such as lime kiln, power boilers and recovery furnaces and a control efficiency of 98% would need to be maintained .The bleach plant component involves scrubbing the chlorine , chlorine dioxide, hypo chlorite, and caustic extraction stage tower vents and washer hood exhausts. The pollutants of concern are methanol, and chlorine. A 99% control efficiency would need to be maintained. Additionally in the air pollution control area, compliance demonstrations will require continuous monitoring of control device operating parameters, established either during the performance test or specified during the design.