Hyderabad: Despite the prolonged delay in shifting polluting units outside the Outer Ring Road (ORR), the state government is confident of relocating 20 per cent of them within two years.
The government is planning to develop IT corridors and commercial space in the land vacated by polluting units, which can also get 20 per cent stake in it. The government is keen on building comprehensive industrial and social infrastructure outside ORR before relocating polluting units, said Mr V. Madhusudhan, chief executive officer, TS Industrial Infrastructure Corporation.
“We are considering three aspects for relocating polluting units. Physical availability of land, creating basic infrastructure and preparedness of the industry. It's a long haul. We expect relocating 20 per cent of polluting units in two years and it may take another five years to complete the huge task,” he told this newspaper.
Along the ORR, the government will develop comprehensive infrastructure including common effluent treatment plant (ETF) and social infrastructure such as education, health and entertainment.
“Relocation of polluting units doesn’t mean shifting pollution to another place. It’ll be a pollution-free new infrastructure outside the ORR. We are still working on several options for relocating the units,” Mr Madhusudhan said.He said one option was that units can avail of a well-developed slot with all the infrastructure including common effluent treatment plant.
The second option would be the units retaining 20 per cent of land vacated so that they can have some stake in the new commercial space. The government has grouped polluting units into red and orange categories. The red category will comprise units with pollution index above 60 points and the orange category 41 to 59.
It is estimated that over 1,200 industrial units mostly from the bulk drugs, chemicals and dyeing sectors are in these two categories within the ORR limits. “The Pollution Control Board should focus on reducing pollution levels of existing units in the city, particularly pharma units,” he said.
