Pollution board to begin unit approval procedure; poll code not applicable
It is now possible to provide permission for the establishment and operation of around 2,500 industrial and tourism units, including 200 new units, as the Election Commission (EC) said today that it had no objections to the subject in light of the model code of conduct.
Following the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections on March 12, the model code of conduct was put into effect, and the permission-granting procedure was put on hold. But the enforcement of the model code caused more delay, and most of the approvals were already overdue by many months.
The poll code caused the process to stop.
After the Lok Sabha elections were announced on March 12 and the model code of conduct went into effect, the permission-granting procedure was put on hold.
Most of the approvals had been outstanding for months, and in March, the model code of behavior was enforced, which caused even more delay.
On March 18, the state administration presented a proposal to the EC asking for authority to authorize the units.
The directive also relieves industrial facilities that are awaiting authorization under the terms of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986, for the scientific disposal of hazardous waste.
According to an SPCB official, a request to authorize units was submitted to the Election Commission in March since doing otherwise would unnecessarily postpone their operations for many months.
Since a delay of more than three months would result in significant costs, investors who had taken out loans to establish new industrial and tourist units had been requesting approvals.
The EC’s ruling today also provided relief to industrial entities that were awaiting authorization under the terms of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986, for the scientific disposal of hazardous waste.
On March 18, the state administration presented a proposal to the EC asking for authorization to issue the units’ permits.
Before starting their operations, industrial and tourist units must get approval. Permissions to create and renew consent have also been postponed due to the code of conduct. The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) website indicates that there are around 2,100 instances altogether awaiting consent, including those for which the consent has been delayed for many months. Approximately 450 instances include ones whose EPA authorization was pending.
Under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981, consent to establish is the first step towards project approval. Once a unit installs the necessary pollution mitigation systems for the scientific disposal of the effluents, the operation is authorized.
New hotels were also being built at Kasauli, Manali, Kullu, Shimla, and other locations, while the units were being put up in different industrial clusters, including Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, which is home to over 90% of the state’s industry. According to an SPCB official, a request to authorize these units was submitted to the Election Commission in March since doing otherwise would unnecessarily postpone their operations for many months. The official said, “Today, we got a letter from the European Commission that cleared the path for the issuance of these permits.
Due to the potential financial consequences of a delay of more than three months, investors who had taken out loans to establish new industrial and tourist units had been requesting these approvals.
Securing approvals for a prospective tourist unit in Solan is Rakesh’s responsibility. “Investors have availed loans worth crores and interest liabilities of lakhs are amassed every month, whether or not the unit becomes operational,” Rakesh remarked.
An other investor, who was requesting several revenue clearances to establish a tourist unit in Kasauli, said, “Since the model code of conduct went into effect, no work was being done like processing the file and demarcating the area. We won’t be able to finish the job until June.
