2019 District Environment Plan- Salem District Administration INDEX Page S. No. Contents No. 1 Introduction 2 2. Solid Waste Management 6 3. Bio-medical Waste Management 9 4. Plastic Waste Management 12 5. Construction and Demolition Waste (C&D) 15 6. Polluted River Stretches 16 7. Industrial Pollution Control 20 8. Utilization of treated sewage 23 9. Conservation of water bodies 25 10. E-waste Management 29 11. Prevention of illegal Sand Mining 31 1. INTRODUCTION 1.0 Preamble: Hon‟ble NGT in O.A. No. 710-713/2017 dated 15.07.2019 ordered regarding constitution of District Committee (as a part of District Planning Committee under Article 243 ZD) under Articles 243 G, 243 W, 243 ZD read with Schedules 11 and 12 and Rule 15 of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. In the above said order, it is stated that among others ‘Chief Secretaries may personally monitor compliance of environmental norms (including BMW Rules) with the District Magistrate once every month. The District Magistrates may conduct such monitoring twice every month. We find it necessary to add that in view of Constitutional provisions under Articles 243 G, 243 W, 243 ZD read with Schedules 11 and 12 and Rule 15 of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 it is necessary to have a District Environment Plan to be operated by a District committee (as a part of District Planning Committee under Article 243 ZD)’ In this regard, Principal Secretary to Government/Chairman(FAC) vide D.O. letter dated 26.07.2019 requested all District Collectors to prepare District Environmental plans by constituting District Committee (as a part of District Planning Committee under Article 243 ZD) with representatives from Panchayats, Local Bodies, Regional Officers, State PCB and a suitable officer representing the administration, which may in turn be chaired and monitored by the District Collector/District Magistrate twice every month and shall host the same in the website for a period of one year on or before 01.08.2019 & furnish monthly progress report to Chief Secretary to Government every month and copy of the same earmarked to TNPC Board accordingly. As per the directions District committee was formed in the Salem District comprising of following members to evolve and execute District Environmental Plan.. 1. The District Collector, Salem Chairman 2. The P.A.(PD) to the District Collector, Salem Convener 3. The District Environmental Engineer, Member Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Salem. 4. The Commissioner, Salem Corporation Member 5. The Regional Director of Municipal Member Administration, Salem Region. 6. The Assistant Director (Town Panchayat) Member 7. The Assistant Director (Panchayat) Member 8. The District Environmental Engineer, Member Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Kumarapalayam. 9. The Commissioner, Edappadi Municipality Member 10. The Commissioner, Mettur Municipality Member 11. The Commissioner, Attur Municipality Member 12. The Commissioner, Narasingapuram Member Municipality 13. The Deputy Director, Member Department of Geology & Mining, Salem District 14. The Executive Engineer, PWD(WRO), Member Sarabanga 15. The Executive Engineer, PWD(WRO), Mettur Member 16. The Joint Director (Health Sevices), Salem Member 17. The Deputy Director (Health Services), Salem Member 18. The Joint Director (Animal Husbandry), Salem. Member 1.1 Salem District: Salem District at a glance The District Environmental Engineer office is functioning at No.1/276, Meyyanur main Road, Siva Towers, Salem. The Salem District Environmental Engineer office consists of 10 Taluks, 1 Corporation, 3 Municipalities and 30 Town Panchayats. The Salem town was constituted as a municipality in 1867, and was upgraded to a special-grade municipality in 1979 and to a municipal corporation on 1 April 1994. The Salem municipal corporation has 72 wards. Two Assistant Engineers were working under the District Environmental Engineer in the office of the District Environmental Engineer. The town and the surrounding hilly regions were part of the Chera dynasty and was part of the trade route with the Roman empire. It was later governed by Poligars, who built temples and forts in and around the city. It was part of the Vijayanagara empire before being captured by Hyder Ali during the early 18th century, after the Mysore-Madurai war. It was ceded to the British in 1768 and the area became part of the struggle between Kongu Nadu led by Dheeran Chinnamalai and the British. Salem became part of Salem district since independence in 1947. Salem is located at 11.67°N 78.14°E, at an average elevation of 278 m (912 ft). The city is surrounded by hills: Nagaramalai on the North, Jarugumalai on the South, Kanjamalai on the west, Godumalai on the East and the Shevaroy Hills on the Northeast. Kariyaperumal Hill is in southwestern Salem. The Thirumanimutharu River flows through the city. The fort area is the oldest part of Salem. Salem lies in the foothills of Shevaroy hills which houses the famous hill Station Yercaud. Salem has a tropical savanna climate January and February are generally pleasant; The hot summer begins in March, with the year's highest temperatures during April. Pre-monsoon thunderstorms occur during April and May. The Southwest monsoon season lasts from June to September. The Northeast monsoon occurs from October to December. Salem is a major textile centre in Tamil Nadu, with more than 125 spinning mills, weaving units and garment units. Until the 1960s, it had less few spinning mills. Private handloom weaving began to increase in the region after the 1960s and during the 1980s, the textile industry expanded with major spinning mills and dying units. The area also houses a number of sago factories for the production starch. In Salem district, 34,000 hectares (130 sq mi) of land are devoted to cassava and 263 industrial units are engaged in tapioca processing. In 1981, the Salem Starch and Sago Manufacturers Service Industrial Co- operative Society (SAGOSERVE) was established to promote the sago industry and nearly 80 percent of the national demand for sago and starch is met by SAGOSERVE. In and around Salem cassava yields are 25–30 tons per hectare, one of the highest in the world; the national average is 19 tons per hectare, and the world average is 10 tons. Status of Industries Red Orange Green Total 410 1237 431 2078 In the above red category industries, there are 7 Nos. of 17 category industries and 10 Nos. of Red large industries (Textile Dyeing – 1, Chemical - 5, Diary-2, Foundry – 1, LPG Bottling – 1 No) The following highly polluting industries (17 Category) are located in this office jurisdiction. 1. The Chemplast Sanmar Limited(Caustic Soda Plant) 2. Mettur Thermal Power Station Unit-I 3. Mettur Thermal Power Station Unit-II 4. JSW Steels Limited(Thermal Power Plant) 5. JSW Steels Limited(Steel Plant) 6. Chemplast Sanmar Limited(Thermal Power Plant) 7. Ramco Cements Limited(cement grinding unit) (MTPS – I & II, Mettur) (JSW Steel Works, Mecheri) There are 2078 Industries have obtained for consent of the Board. These industries are categorized as Red, Orange and Green depending upon the polluting nature of the industries. Out of 2078 industries, 1926 industries have obtained consent to operate and the remaining 152 industries have obtained consent to establish alone. There are 94 bleaching and dyeing units located in this office jurisdiction. All the bleaching and dyeing units have installed zero liquid discharge system. The Hon‟ble Chief Minister of TamilNadu announced a scheme in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 11.08.2014 for the formation of Common Effluent Treatment Plant(CETP) and the identification of land is under progress. Also, stone crushing units, stone quarries, steel rerolling mills, chemical units, Diary and milk chilling units are located in the District. (RO Plant) Air Pollution Control Measure ( ESP at MTPS-II) The Salem Steel Plant, a unit of the Steel Authority of India, produces cold-rolled stainless steel and a hot-rolled stainless-carbon steel alloy. The plant is being expanded and modernized for steel-melting and continuous-casting facilities. The JSW Steel Ltd has their first integrated steel plant in Salem for the production of TMT corrosion-resistant bars and alloy steels. The Salem region is rich in mineral ores, with some of the largest magnesite and bauxite deposits in India. Public and private magnesite factories include TamilNadu Magnesite Ltd, Dalmia Magnesites and Salem Steel Refractories Ltd. The Tamil Nadu government and the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu are planning a 160-acre (65 ha) IT park in the city. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is conducting awareness programme during Deepavali insisting them to use the eco friendly crackers. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Salem conducts Ambient Air Quality Survey and Noise Level Survey during and after Deepavali day. In order to avoid usage of banned plastics, awareness programmes are conducted periodically. Closure direction issued to six banned plastic manufacturing units. The local bodies has levied the fine amount of Rs.42,21,070/- for usage of banned plastics for the month upto November- 2019. Closure direction has been issued to the 81 units for the violation of the Water & Air Acts in the jurisdiction of District Environmental Engineer, Salem during the period from January-2019 to November-2019. In order to monitor the quality of water bodies monthly samples are collected in River Cauvery at Mettur, River Thirumanimutharu at Salem, River Vasista at Attur and Yercaud Lake. These samples are analyzed in Advanced Environmental Laboratory, Salem. (Yercaud Lake, Salem) Yercaud Lake Ambient Air Quality in Salem is monitored under the National Ambient Air Quality programme. Three monitoring stations are located in Siva Towers, Meyyanur Main Road, Salem and in other two locations in Mettur. The Status of Ambient Air Quality during the month November-2019 is furnished below.