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Mumbai: Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) sent closure notices to 17 ready mix concrete (RMC) plants in the last six months in the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai belt for violating pollution control norms and even cut their power supply, but some are allegedly back to their errant ways after initial compliance.
RMC plants are considered as a major contributor of air pollution.
Anand Katole, sub-regional officer, MPCB, said action was taken against 12 units in Vasai and five in Mira-Bhayander. They subsequently complied with the norms and secured permission to reopen.
The closure notices were sent for flouting norms like failure to barricade RMC plants with 20ft-high galvanised iron sheets, not having functional water sprinklers, and industrial vacuum cleaners not being used. In one instance, a plant failed to install the mandatory continuous ambient air quality monitoring system, while at another, the sedimentation tank was defunct, owing to which effluents were flowing into a stormwater drain. All tyres of RMC trucks must also be washed thoroughly using a two-level process before being moved out of the plant.
A visit to some of the 17 plants showed that a number of these measures are being breached again. —Vishal Rajemahadik
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