Chandrapur villagers up in arms against air pollution

Star Rating Program reaching grassroots

Chandrapur: We are all aware of the ills that air pollution causes in various parts of our country and state. But mostly, the common people are stuck with the question, "what can we do about it" and it stops at that while our environment continues to suffer.

The Star Rating program was started by the MPCB so that the people can take initiative and engage with the industry and administration at various levels. Urban centers in Maharashtra see a lot of awareness initiatives regarding this program but villages, especially those around Chandrapur, are as much affected by the menace of air pollution as the cities. Most villages in Chandrapur are surrounded by coal mines and power plants and bear more of the brunt than any urban center. With the motive of engaging the villagers and enabling them to take initiative against polluting industries in their vicinity, the Star Rating program visited the villages of Choti Paloti, Chota Nagpur amongst others to spread awareness about the issue and how the villagers, especially the youth can help engage with the administration and industries on the issue of air pollution and the effect it has on them directly. The awareness initiative was led by Prof. Suresh Chopane of the Green Planet Society and EPIC, India. "People participation is of utmost importance. People need to join the mainstream. Often we forget that villages are the worst hit by this menace of air pollution as most of our initiatives are commonly targeted towards urban centers. Villages to need to take the initiative and need to be made aware and empowered regard tackling the issue", said Prof. Chopane on the occasion.

ABOUT THE STAR RATING PROGRAM

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s Star Rating Program is India’s first-ever initiative that makes available data from approximately 20,000 industrial stack samples over multiple years. The MPCB has worked extensively with several research partners and players from the industry to set up this effective platform without compromising the quality of research and information.

Under the new scheme, industrial facilities are rated from one to five stars based on their emissions. Industries with one star are out of compliance with MPCB air pollution standards, and industries with five stars are low polluting in terms of air pollution. Industry, government and the public can log onto the MPCB website to access the report cards for industrial plants in their area. They can filter industry information by sector, region, and star-rating.

Similar programs have been launched in the United States, Canada, China, Ghana, Philippines, and Ukraine. But, the Maharashtra program will be the first to measure the impact on emissions with the help of researchers from The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) at Harvard University, and the Tata Centre for Development.

WHY IS THE ‘STAR RATING PROGRAM’ NEEDED?

MPCB has previously posted the results of ambient air sampling for public viewing and analysis. Public disclosure of industry ratings based on stationary stack samples is the next step. The star rating scheme brings transparency in the environmental performance of industries. Sharing this information has two primary benefits;

First, it will help plant managers improve environmental quality and sustain regulatory compliance. Informing plant managers of their relative performance with respect to similar units allows managers to identify scope for improvements, and motivates them to invest in these improvements. Industries that have better ratings can share their best practices with their peers who may not be performing as well.

The the second benefit is that the public will be able to easily access information on the performance of industries in their area. This will help bring about transparency and raise awareness among the public around industrial emissions and the impact of this on air pollution in their area.

WHY WAS MAHARASHTRA CHOSEN FOR THIS PROJECT?

The star-rating program deals specifically with industrial air pollution emissions. Maharashtra is a perfect fit for the program as it is the most industrialized state in India with over 75,000 industries. Out of these, 12,500 industries have been identified as having high pollution potential. The star rating program has begun as a pilot amongst some of these industries, with the intention to expand as MPCB updates the database.

HOW WILL IT CURB POLLUTION LEVELS IN MAHARASHTRA?

Information disclosure initiatives have been implemented in different parts of the world. Examples including the US Toxic Release Inventory initiative, the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating (PROPER) in Indonesia, as well as initiatives in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Studies suggest that this type of "light touch" regulation can be very effective. Disclosure and rating schemes work by:

1. Systematically making industries aware of their own performance relative to peers. This information is otherwise difficult to access and therefore management is unaware of the potential for improvement.

2. Informing the public and workers about the environmental performance of industries in their neighborhoods such that they take action against poor performing industries.

Read More Information: New pollution guidelines for Ind

I am a freelance content writer and digital marketing executive.