FAQ's
Q |
What role does TSPCB play
in environmental protection and pollution
control? |
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A |
TSPCB
being the chief regulator for implementation
environmental protection and pollution
control laws in the State, plays an
important role in enforcing various laws,
rules, regulations notifications etc.
pertaining to prevention and control of
pollution. TSPCB also carry out monitoring
of pollution sources and initiates
preventive and corrective action. |
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Q |
Is TSPCB's role only that
of a regulator? Or does it also play a
facilitator's role? |
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A |
Primary
role of
TSPCB is that of a regulator.
However, TSPCB also conducts awareness
programs on the laws and their provisions
and advises all stake-holders involved in
environmental management and pollution
control for compliance of the laws and to
provide adequate control systems. |
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Q |
How is TSPCB connected to
State Govt., CPCB and MoEF? |
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A |
TSPCB
is an autonomous statutory body. In certain
administrative and technical matters, it is
responsible to State Government, Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry
of Environment and Forests (MoE&F), Govt.of
India (GOI). TSPCB is bound to comply
directions issued by the State Government,
CPCB or MoEF. |
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Q |
What is the purview of
TSPCB in the matters of pollution? |
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A |
The TSPCB regulates
industrial pollution as per provisions of
Water Air Act. The TSPCB also implements
Rules pertaining to
hazardous waste,
municipal solid waste, bio-medical waste,
plastic waste, batteries and e-waste and
performs the role as specified in the
related Rules issued under Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986. |
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Q |
What are the issues
which are not dealt by TSPCB? |
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A |
Purview of TSPCB does not cover all the
areas of environment and issues concerning
public. Certain issues which are not dealt
by TSPCB and where responsibility lies with
other authorities / departments are as
follows:
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Q |
What are the powers
vested with TSPCB? |
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A |
TSPCB is vested with powers to stipule
standards for discharge / emissions of
pollutants, to stipulate conditions to
prevent & control pollution, to inspect &
monitor sources of pollution, to issue
notices and closure orders to the
non-complying industries. |
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Q |
How is TSPCB organized? |
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A |
TSPCB is organized in a three-tier system.
There are Regional Offices at District
Level, Zonal Offices for a group of
Districts and Head Office at highest level.
The powers and responsibilities are
delegated to Regional and Zonal Offices
based on category of industries. The details
of organizational structure and locations of
offices are available on the website of
TSPCB. |
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Q |
What are the
environmental and pollution related
clearances required to set up and start an
industrial unit? |
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A |
Consent for Establishment
(CFE) of TSPCB
under Water (Prevention & Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention &
Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 is required
for setting up of an industrial unit and
Consent for Operation (CFO) of |
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Q |
What are the
responsibilities of polluting industry to
prevent and control pollution? |
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A |
A.
The polluting industries
shall obtain required clearances
i.e. EC (if applicable), CFE, CFO, etc.
B.
Establishment and operation of a polluting
industry without obtaining necessary
clearances is a violation and attracts
action like closure and prosecution.
C.
CFO is issued for a stipulated time period
and the industries shall get CFO renewed
before expiry of the validity.
D.
The industries have to comply with the
standards and conditions stipulated in the
clearances, failure of which attracts action
from TSPCB.
E.
Industries shall ensure that their
operations do not cause pollution of air,
water or land.
F.
Industries shall submit
such information / reports as stipulated in
the clearances. |
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Q |
Why are the
standards stipulated for discharge /
emissions of pollutants in the environment? |
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A |
The environment has
certain capacity to absorb pollutants
(assimilation capacity) without adverse
impact. The environment gets affected is
level of pollution exceed this capacity. The
standards are fixed at the threshold, where
the pollutants released by the industries do
not lead to such a situation. Hence, the
standards are stipulated to regulate release
of pollutants into the environment so as to
protect the overall quality of environment. |
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Q |
Who prescribes
the standards for discharge / emissions of
pollutants in the environment? |
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A |
The standards are
prescribed by MoE&F, CPCB and TSPCB. |
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Q |
What are the
parameters for which standards are
prescribed? |
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A |
Standards are
prescribed for the parameters as stipulated
in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
There are general as well as industry
specific parameters for which standards are
stipulated. The parameters
for water / waste water quality include pH,
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical
Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Dissolved Solids
(TDS), Temperature, Suspended Solids (SS),
Ammonical Nitrogen, Oil & Grease, Colour,
Toxicants, Fluorides, Phenol, Cyanides,
Heavy Metals, etc
The parameters
for air quality includes
Suspended Particulate
Matter (SPM), Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen
Oxides (NOx), Hydrgen Chloride (HCl),
Ammonia, etc. |
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Q |
What is meant
by "End of the pipe” treatment and what are
the alternatives? |
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A |
"End of the pipe”
treatment refers to the treatment of waste
after its generation from the process so
that parameters are within the stipulated
standards before disposal / reuse. The alternatives are
prevention / reduction in generation waste
at source by adopting waste minimization
practices, by carrying out process
modifications and by adopting more cleaner
process technologies. Several process
technologies are being developed wherein
processes are modified by changing raw
materials, unit processes and operations so
as to prevent / reduce waste generation. |
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Q |
Is it
practical to prevent / reduce waste
generation by industries? |
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A |
Yes. It depends on
choosing right process technology. With
on-going research and development of new
process technologies and raw materials there
is scope for waste reduction / prevention. |
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Q |
What is the
significance of common treatment and
disposal facilities? |
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A |
Installation of dedicated
waste treatment and disposal facilities is
sometimes not economically viable for
certain industries, especially small and
medium scale units due to their limited
size, scale of operations and land
availability.
Establishment of
common treatment and disposal
facilities like Common
Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP), Treatment,
Storage & Disposal Facility for hazardous
waste (TSDF), Common Bio-medical Waste
Treatment Facility (CBMWTF), etc. make it
possible for such units to reduce the cost
of waste treatment and disposal. The Central and State
Government also help in establishment of
common facilities by way of providing land,
subsidy and other forward and backward
linkages. The Common Facilities
are established by forming a Special Purpose
Vehicle to operate the facility in
association with member units. Member units
have to enter into agreement with operator
for treatment of waste. The cost of
treatment is borne by the member units based
on their pollution load. |
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Q |
What are the
common waste treatment facilities available
in Telangana? |
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A |
The common facilities
in the State of Telangana are as follows:
·
M/s. JETL, ·
M/s. PETL, ·
M/s. ·
M/s. HWMP, Dundigal (V), Ranga Reddy
District (TSDF) Apart from the above,
Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment
Facilities (CBMWTF) are available for
treatment of bio-medical waste generated
from each district. |
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Q |
What are the
incentives offered to the industrial unit
going in for "ISO 14001"? |
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A |
The units which have
obtained "ISO 14001" are given CFO for
additional one year validity period. |
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Q |
Is it
permissible to send hazardous waste for
reuse in States other than the State in
which it is generated? |
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A |
Yes. Inter-state
transport of hazardous waste is permitted as
per the provisions of the Hazardous Waste
(Management Handling and Transboundary
Movement) Rules, 2008. The industry has to
obtain |
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Q |
What is the
time limit for issue of consent by TSPCB? |
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A |
As per Water and Air
Acts, consent applications are to be
processed within 4 months time. However,
with the new Act of the State Government
i.e. TSiPASS Act, the processing time is
shortened for speedy disposal of cases. As
per new Act, proposed time limits for
processing consent applications are 21 days
for Red category, 14 days for Orange
category and 7 days for Green category
industries. |
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Q |
What is the
mechanism adopted by TSPCB to check (verify)
compliance of polluting industries? |
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A |
There are two aspects to
verify compliance of polluting industries
i.e. inspection of the industry and
monitoring of pollution sources.
During inspection,
processes and waste generation, storage,
treatment and disposal systems are verified
to ascertain their compliance with
conditions stipulated in the consent orders.
Pollution sources (air & water) are
monitored (by sampling) to ascertain whether
parameters are within the stipulated
standards. Based on the findings
of inspection and monitoring, action is
initiated against the non-complying
industries. |
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Q |
What are the remedies for
public against pollution? |
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A |
Public can complain to
TSPCB against pollution. They can also file
appeals before the Appellate Authority
constituted under Water Act and Air Act and
National Green Tribunal if aggrieved by the
orders of TSPCB or MoE&F. The public can
also approach Hon’ble High Court against the
polluting industries or against the govt.
authorities in case of non-action. |
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Q |
How to lodge complaints
with TSPCB against pollution? |
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A |
TSPCB has provided
a Toll Free Number (10741) for making
complaints against pollution. This number is
made available for 24 X 7. The public can
make complaints on this number at any time.
Public can also submit complaints at
Regional / Zonal / Head Office of TSPCB. |
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Q |
Is pollution a necessary
price that we have to pay for achieving
development? |
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A |
No.
The environment protection and pollution
control laws are enacted to regulate
development so as to protect environment and
to prevent pollution which may result from
the projects. Adequate technologies /
equipment are available for controlling
pollution. |
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Q |
Is TSPCB the only
authority to control pollution? |
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A |
TSPCB
is the authority to prevent and control
pollution in the State of Telangana. CPCB
and MoE&F are higher authorities which
enforce regulations to control pollution. |
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Q |
What is the procedure
followed by TSPCB in taking action against
non-complying industries? |
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A |
Procedure is as follows: ·
The non-compliance of the
industry is established by inspection and
monitoring.
·
Required evidence is
collected such as analysis reports,
photographs / videographs, etc. ·
Show Cause Notice is
issued to the industry for non-compliance. ·
Industry is called for a
hearing before the Task Force Committee of
TSPCB. ·
Complainants (if any) are
also called for hearing. ·
The pollution control
status of the industry is reviewed by the
Committee. ·
If the violations are
established, then action is taken against
the industry. ·
Three types of orders are
issued to the industry based on the gravity
of the situation. In certain cases, if
there is scope for corrective action without
stopping industrial activity, then
directions are issued to the industry for
improvement of pollution control system /
measures. Compliance of the directions is
then reviewed periodically. If the corrective
measures requires stoppage of industrial
activity, then Stop Production Order is
issued wherein, industry has to stop
production activity and carry out corrective
measures. The status is reviewed after
completion of corrective measures by the
industry. In certain cases of gross
violations, there is urgent need to stop
industry in order to protect environment and
to control pollution. In such cases closure
order is issued, wherein power supply to the
industry is stopped.
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Q |
What is the role of
public in prevention and control of
pollution? |
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A |
Public can bring the
pollution issues to the notice of TSPCB.
Public (individually or through
associations) can help TSPCB in propagating
awareness regarding environmental protection
and pollution control. |
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Q |
What is the
role of Municipalities and Municipal
Corporations in preventing and controlling
pollution? |
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A |
Local Bodies are
responsible for treatment and safe disposal
of Municipal Solid Waste and sewerage as per
the provisions of law and as per the
stipulated standards. Sewage Treatment
Plants and Solid Waste Disposal Facilities
have to obtain the Consent/Authorization of
TSPCB and operate as per the conditions
stipulated in Consent/Authorization. |
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Q |
How is
vehicular pollution control implemented? |
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A |
The norms for the
vehicular pollution
are being implemented by
Road Transport Department. |
Reasons for
Rejection of Consent Application
Consent for Establishment:
1. Non compliance of the siting
guidelines.
2. Insufficient or non submission of
documents/ information as sought in the applications, such as Process
description, Technical details of pollution control equipment/ systems etc.,
Consent for Operation:
Non compliance of the conditions / directions stipulated
in the Consent for Establishment such as:
· Establishment of effluent treatment plant.
·
Installation of Air Pollution Control Systems.
·
Meeting the standards with respect to effluents and
emissions.
·
Management of hazardous wastes as per rules.