Sunday, 13 August 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Kumaon Garhwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) raised various issues in the board meeting of the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) which was held online.
Chairman of KGCCI, which is also a member of UEPPCB, Ashok Bansal said that presently the green category industries which do not pay non compliance/consent charge to the board on time have to pay it along with simple interest while orange and red category industries have to pay it with compounding interest in similar cases.
It has come to light that if industries do not inform on time or do not pay the charge on time, the EC will be payable which can be 300 times the present amount. In the new system, Rs 15 lakh will be charged instead of Rs 5,000. He said that implementing the new fees system appears illogical and unfair as delay in informing or not paying the fee on time does not damage the environment. He further said that studies in various States have shown that industries contribute 15 to 20 per cent to environmental pollution.
Considering this, compensation for environmental pollution should be calculated on the basis of their share in the pollution, said Bansal. He demanded that consent renewal for red, orange and green category industries should be done on auto mode.
