Home > About Town, News > Cement plants and its pollution

Cement plants and its pollution

4 July 2008

People living in the vicinity of cement plants are increasingly complaining about pollution caused by dust particles. They say that besides the smog on the environment, there is also the threat to health. There is the call for proper assessment of such situations and the need for necessary action.

The National Environment Commission (NEC) has rules and regulations framed according to the nature of industries, be it wet or dry. An industry is only allowed to operate after the NEC issues a clearance certificate. The NEC director Sonam Yangley said, “Till few years back we had the emission standards laid by the WHO that were not relevant to our industries because the standards were just too high or too broad. So we have developed standards that are relevant in the Bhutanese context but it will take few more months to enforce them.”

If the rules are violated, the NEC investigates the industry to ensure that the pollution is not caused by any malfunction in the pollution control equipment. Penalizing the industry is their last option.

Workers in industries have to wear safety gear like masks, helmets and ear plugs but pollution is often overlooked. The location of the plant also plays a vital role.

There are four cement plants in the country, namely Penden, Lhaki, Yangzom and Druk. Only the Penden Cement Authority has the latest pollution control equipment the Electro Stat Precipitator (ESP). The others have old technology, rotary or vertical shaft kiln. It is difficult for them to upgrade because the technology is expensive.

Senior Environment Officer, Tenzin Khorlo said, “We generally visit the industrial areas for monitoring twice a year. When it comes to cement plants there is pollution definitely, but we cannot say anything unless we get the sample report from India.” NEC imposes fine looking into the degree of violation of rule, for instance not complying with the housekeeping grounds like not wearing of masks or muffs, helmets and ear plugs that the workers have to while they are on duty, just to create awareness.

Before imposing fines they notify the respective industries on their violation and give them time to rectify or give them suggestions and recommendations.

The fines imposed are very minimal, but in case of severe violation the NEC committee consisting of four board members headed by the NEC director, decide the imposition, usually the penalty for minor violations range from Nu 1,000–Nu 50, 000. The severe violations include damage caused to human health and environment due to carelessness with water discharge and air pollution for which the ultimatum can be shutting down of the industry.

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is done twice only because of manpower shortage, although they have specialists. They also lack proper equipment for monitoring. They also do not have a proper lab for sample analysis. Samples have to be sent to India incurring a long waiting period. This year there were four experts hired from Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research, India, to study the industrial estate. They established the facilities or the provision for measurement so that assessment can be done in the future.

The private sector has already been informed about the emission standards they must comply with almost a year ago and starting this August, they have to abide by the standards set by the NEC. Although for cement industries, they will have to wait because of the monsoon season as the samples taken previously were in the month of May. They cannot take proper study of the emission because after rain the air is relatively cleaner, so they have to wait till September-October, as 24 hours reading is needed to tabulate authentic samples. However the time period given might be extended if they are not able to comply with the standards laid down.

Sonam Yangley said, “With economic development we are sidelining the environment. This should not be the case; rather there should be more awareness amongst the people because we cannot restore nature completely.”

As far as the Bjemina mining case is concerned, it does not come under the NEC or the geology and mines department because NEC was established only in 1995, much later than the mining and by then it was already operating under the certificate issued by the forest department and still does.

The NEC had visited the area about three times and even issued notices to the proprietors. They reacted against the notice but with the mounting problems, the NEC, MoA and MoEA are forced to make a joint decision.

By Eshori Gurung

Ratings: 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes | 1.00 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
Email this page Email this page     Print this page Print this page    

Posted by Bhutan Observer · Filed Under About Town, News 

Comments

Leave your comment





Note: Comments are moderated by Bhutan Observer, and may not appear until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

Bhutan Observer is Digg proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache