Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Actionable points for the WGEA : 2.6 Organized Industry

Opinion
       01/12/2018
                1578.

SUB : Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Actionable points for the WGEA : 2.6 Organized Industry

REF : 2.6 Organized Industry

2.6 Organized Industry :

The importance of the industrial sector in the Indian economy has risen over the years. The contribution of industries to the gross domestic product (GDP) has improved along with a rise in the share of employment in the secondary sector. The new economic policy with its package of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation changed the entire scenario of the Indian industrial sector and a sharp rise in foreign investment is now being seen. The Western Ghat states are also coastal states, and as such have always attracted industries given the access to ports and water. In more recent times they have been important investment destinations. In the decade since 2000, their share of these states has been 53% of the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu being about a third of the total (RBI data). These states have also been found attractive for the location of SEZs. 55% of the notified SEZs by 31 December 2010 were in these states and 60% of the operational ones. Formal and in principle approvals are also over 50% of the total in these categories for these states, making them the industrial engines of India’s growth story.

 Spatial location(D B Boralkar 2010; TERI, 2005 COMAPS study, TERI Disha– Goa ongoing study)

Many of the investments are concentrated in a narrow strip of districts running from South Gujarat to the Konkan in Maharashtra. In Gujarat, investment in the coastal districts of Vadodara, Bharuch and Surat account for a large share of the total investment in Gujarat. In Maharashtra, there are about 22,000 small, medium and large industries in the western coastal part of Maharashtra State, of which 234 are large scale units which are highly polluting and categorized by the Central Pollution Control Board as ‚Red‛ category industries. The principal industrial zone in Maharashtra is the Mumbai-Thane-Pune belt, accounting for almost 60 % of the State's output. Most of the investments in Maharashtra are in the coastal Konkan belt. Raigarh tops the list, followed by the neighbouring district Ratnagiri. The two districts together account for about 38% of the total investment while Mumbai accounts for 7%. One of the aspects of Maharashtra’s industrialisation has been the over-industrialisation of the Mumbai-Thane-Pune-Nashik belt and also the Konkan coastline. These regions have reached the saturation point (Deshpande et al., 1996, Gadgil, 2010).

In Goa, there are 20 industrial estates hosting about 2037 industrial units and 18 large polluting industries. Most of these industrial estates are located on the Western Ghat plateaus While a large number of these in operation are located within the 20 industrial estates, a large portion of polluting industries operate from outside the industrial estates.(TERI, ongoing study)

In Karnataka, industries majorly include pulp and paper, sugar, distilleries, cement, petroleum, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, ore processing and mining. Coffee pulping units, mostly located in Coorg, Chikmagalur and Hassan districts, which are all part of the Western Ghats, have pollution problems. Cultivation of tea in the Nilgiris has come at the expense of the region’s biodiversity particularly in the Nilgiris and areas like Coonoor (Boralkar, 2010, op cit.) The huge people-wildlife conflict issue in these areas is partly due to this industry.

2.6.1- Issues of Concern :

While the attraction of industry to these Western Ghat states is beneficial, there are serious concerns because of the environmental and social impacts of such industries and SEZ locations. The social impacts are centred around land acquisition and compensation issues,

while the environmental impacts are focused around demand for energy, emissions from factories and air pollution, water pollution due to industrial effluents, or land degradation due to land conversions. Many industries require large quantities of water in their manufacturing processes. Industrial use of water far exceeds household use.

In Maharashtra, besides causing air pollution due to industrial processes and fossil fuel burning, industries discharge about 678,000 cubic meters of industrial effluent which is partially treated and/or treated. . The impacts of Lote MIDC on the local creeks and mangrove forests have been reported in Gadgil (2010) and Ratnagiri Zonal Atlas for citing Industries (ZASI) (2006). As an example, the Box below reports the air quality in Ratnagiri district, which shows critical air pollution levels in the Lote MIDC area.

The industrial units in Goa generate industrial waste water/effluent at about 8400 cu. m per day as per GSPCB. All the units are reported to have their own effluent treatment plants. Effluent is generated mainly by the breweries, distilleries, drugs and a sugar manufacturing unit.

A Zoning Atlas for Siting of Industries has been prepared for North and South Goa districts. It is evident from this exercise that there are no low ecological sensitivity zones (green colour codes) for the siting of industries. Most of Goa falls in the red and orange areas which is classified under the category of very high and high sensitivity to air and water pollution. A few areas in yellow suggest suitability of low to medium pollution potential where best practices and technologies are to be applied.

Some of the concerns voiced by stakeholders with regard to the impact of industries on the ecosystems of the Western Ghats are the following: (Dhara, 2010)

 Air pollution will decrease crop yields significantly, and impact negatively on human health and the vegetation of the Western Ghats.

 Because of the low pH (~4), highly porous lateritic soils, and highly inter-connected aquifers in the coastal strip, solid wastes, including ash from thermal power plants will leach into the aquifers and contaminate ground water in a substantial area around the solid waste dumps.

 Liquid effluents, even if treatment facilities are available, will contaminate the rivers and streams of the area and affect the livelihood of the local fishermen.

 Industries that require copious quantities of water, eg. thermal power plants, paper plants, may migrate towards the Western Ghats as other parts of India gradually become more water-stressed. Once core sector industries—oil refineries, power plants—take root along the coast, other downstream and ancillary industries will follow.

2.6.2 - Measures for Mitigation/Improvement :

a. Promote industries and services that involve dematerialization – e.g. e-commerce, e-paper, teleconferencing, videoconferencing

b. Promote education hubs for the states in the western Ghats

c. Encourage local bioresource-based industry – vermiculture, cane crafts, apiaries, basket weaving, afforestation, kitchen gardens, etc.

d. Special incentives should be given to agro-based fruit and food processing industries

e. Encourage cottage and soft non-polluting industries

f. The Zoning Atlas for Siting of Industries should be used as a tool for decision-making at various levels for industry, regulatory authorities and the general public. Perhaps the WGEA should engage with ZASI and adopt this tool to ensure that industry has the least impact on the ecology of the Western Ghats and the coast.

NEXT : 2.7 Mining

To be continued ...

JAIHIND
VANDE MATARAM

263/70