Dr. Reddy said there should be no hesitation in cancelling the licences of such industries, and particularly enquired about the effluents of the sponge iron factory being let into Noor Mohammed Kunta near Shadnagar. The Nakkavagu basin of Patancheru in Medak was another trouble spot, which needed constant monitoring by the PCB.

At a review meeting here on Thursday, the Chief Minister sought details on pollution causing industries and how many of them were closed so far and what kind of monitoring mechanism was put in place for checking industrial pollution.

Piece of advice

Even while advocating a "no compromise" stand on such industries, Dr. Reddy also cautioned them not to "harass" industries in the name of environmental protection, an official press release said.

The Chief Secretary, Mohan Kanda, was asked to have a teleconference with district officials on the solid waste management in their respective area. The Suryapet Municipality model of segregation and collection of household waste should be adopted by other urban local bodies too in coordination with the municipal administration and urban development.

The APPCB Member-Secretary, Rajesh Tiwari, said 47 polluting industries were closed, 10 firms were directed to stop production and 187 were issued specific directions in the last one year. Three task forces in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Medak were enquiring into the public complaints and inspecting polluting industries. Some 4,301 industries had complied with the norms as against the target of 3,673.

`Red Corridor'

With regard to Hyderabad, Mr. Tiwari said it was one of the cities where the Supreme Court was monitoring air pollution levels. The Residual Particulate Matter levels were as high as 1237.5 TPD in 2004 as against 475 TPD in 1995, and most of it was due to air pollution. Charminar to Kukatpally was identified as the `Red Corridor' in terms of effect of air pollution on health of the people.

A group of Ministers constituted to monitor the implementation of an action plan was submitted to the Apex court. Phasing out commercial vehicles over 15 years old, introduction of alternative cleaner fuels like LPG, bio-diesel, CNG, etc., compliance with Euro-II standards in RTC buses, checking on `pollution checking centres', arresting adulteration of fuels, etc., were among the steps listed.

A bio-medical task force consisting of NGOs and APPCB staff was constituted to monitor hospitals for compliance of bio-medical waste rules.

The Minister for Forests, Environment, Science and Technology, S. Vijayarama Raju, and senior PCB officials were present, the release added.