PANAJI: The state government is all set to inspect all industries in the State to identify those generating hazardous waste. Officials of Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) said they have received instruction from the Union Ministry of Environment to close down those which are not following waste disposal norms.
The industry units will not be allowed to operate until they pay penalty and start to follow the norms of waste generation, storage, and disposal. The GSPCB has directed the industries to store the hazardous waste generated by them in their premises. As the state does not have a common hazardous waste treatment and storage facility.
Recently, CPCB and GSPCB conducted a joint inspection of industries in the state. As per the state board around 1409 industries generate about 24,796 metric tons of hazardous waste.
During the joint inspection, few industries were found operating without the permission of state pollution board. “The hazardous waste was improperly kept without any label in the isolated hazardous storage area,” said S P Singh Parihar, Chairman, CPCB.
“None of the hazardous waste was kept in accordance to the guidelines for the storage of incinerable hazardous waste by the operator of hazardous disposable waste facilities,” added officials of CPCB.