AP PCB has exceeded expectations of achievements in the following aspects/activities.

Inspections of industry have been made very methodical this year. A detailed proforma backs up each inspection. This proforma provides an updated database for the 1200 Red-category industries inspected between June 1998 and February 1999. The database are prepared to assist the Consent committees for decision making, to provide a base for the Computerisation process, for updating Cess requirements, evidence in courts and for authorisations under the Hazardous Waste Management Rules. Inspections have led to firming up information on the 17 categories of industries, enabling the Monitoring Committee to review, give detailed directions and the Task force to pursue legal action.

Fixing and implementing distance criteria for important categories like pulverising, paraboiled rice-mills, lime-kilns, stonecrushers and cashew processing units among the 64 polluting categories of small scale industries, have relieved the Regional Officers of substantial discretion in decision making. LPG storage safety guidelines have also been compiled but are awaiting comments of the CPCB for implementation.

A signal achievement of the year was the collection of environmental samples from degraded natural receptors, the CETPs, degraded waterbodies, preparing scientific health-impact assessments and conservation and management plans for contaminated lakes. The data generated would help in implementing remediation work and disseminating information to the public for higher awareness and social audit of environmental management measures taken by point-sources.Data gathering for the Summer months would be needed to complete the data base of degraded zones for all the reasons.

On the air quality front, very significant ambient data is generated for public viewing on digitised displays at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Stack monitoring data from more than 50 pertinent industries have enriched our database on the performance of targeted air-polluting industries. Besides public dissemination, these would be useful for deciding fixation of local level AQ standards.

On hazardous waste management, the year saw significant achievements in activating the Jeedimetla Waste Management Plan with the active support of the Local MLA, district administration, industry associations and NGOs. The five AusAid sponsored programmes were all brought to fruition. The Waste Audit programme was flooded with voluntary mass-balances from the industries of the Jeedimetla area (more than our CP cell could handle). The TSDF scheme was brought up to construction stage having completed all its legal, technological, technical and documentation aspects. Updating the Toxic Resources Inventory for more than 300 industries was completed for new and continuing authorisations. The TSDF manifest control system was extended on trial, for the CETPs to follow.

Important notifications were proposed by the AP PCB in the year 1998. These are first steps in the internalisation of environmental considerations in developmental decision-making in Government. The following initiatives and notifications were mooted –

• To prohibit new ‘red’ category industries within 25 kms radius of metros and to control the misuse of landuse on the peripheries of industrial estates. This was approved in the State Investment Promotion Board by the Honorable Chief minister.
• To promote the use of fly-ash by Government construction departments. A Government order was issued, as recommended.
• To prohibit 12 polluting categories of industries and their expansion in the districts of Medak, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Mahboobnagar and Nalgonda. A decision is awaited from the Government.
• To environmentally zone new areas for the location of new industries, providing an alternative for old-technologies banned from the five threatened districts above. This was approved in the State Investment Promotion Board by the Honorable Chief minister.
• To restrict the plying of certain categories of vehicles in metros. The matter is under examination of Government.
• To confiscate effluent tankers plying illegally for dumping waste instead of going to the CETPs for treatment disposal. The matter is under examination of Government.

Systems improvements in the year include the activisation of the committee system for decision making on consents to establish and operate at both the head office and regional office levels. This is a precursor to the introduction of the zonal offices in the state which are expected to decentralise decision making at a level in between the head and the regional offices.

Computerisation of the head and zonal offices is also a massive effort in making the Board’s functions more transparent, efficient and responsive to the public. This would include a static and dynamic website; an integrated database for on-line queries and monitoring; and a dedicated communication line for inter-office data transfer on a WAN platform. Work on the computerisation scheme has started.

The commencement of the Documentation centre and computerised registration of grievances is another effort to bring PCB closer to the information seeker and the environmental victim. The documentation centre has coordinated 35 public hearings, prepared awareness Audio-Visuals and conducted 6 workshops and exhibitions for awareness creation, including hosting the Southern NGOs’ conference in September 1998.

The PCB could take possession of all the plots of land required for building the five regional offices linked to the IPP-II project to house the new lab equipment.

The Legal cell has been streamlined and important cases having National significance, successfully litigated. The five year old Supreme Court case concerning the 3 CETPs has been brought to a decision phase, with the Joint Action Plan of the AP PCB and the CPCB approved for implementation and monitoring, since May 1998. AP PCB filed an SLP in the Supreme Court of India against the orders of the Appellate Authority in the Case of M/s Surana Oil Industries. In this case, the PCB’s platform is not to permit ‘Red’ category industries to establish within the catchments of eco-sensitive water bodies. The AP PCB is also contesting a case in the High Court in defense of setting up a Treatment, Storage, Disposal Facility to safe-dispose about 40000 mts/year of industrial hazardous waste produced by industries of Hyderabad, Medak and Ranga Reddy districts.

The AP PCB has performed creditably in the collection of Cess and Consent fees this year. The targets have been over-achieved under both heads by about 26%. There has been some criticism that collecting Cess and Consent fees by targets, projects an uncharacteristic ‘revenue’ orientation to regional – office activities. However, our experience is that the pressure on Cess payments are already making industry conscious of the price of un-regulated water use and treatment, as this remains a continuos economic dis-incentive with possibilities of adding penalties for default. The Consent fees are bringing more point sources into the consent regime, which helps better monitoring through repeated reviews, inspections and monitoring.