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• It is intimated that the industry is a small scale orange category hot mix plant.
• The industry was granted consent to operate under Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act1981, valid upto 30.09.2027 and same was revoked vide no. 1718 dated 23.04.2024.
• A telephonically complaint was received in this office on 03.04.2024 regarding emitting of black smoke and causing air pollution by Hot Mix Plant. Accordingly the industry was visited by AEE of this office alongwith Lab staff on 03.04.2024 and observed that the hot mix plant was not in operation during visit and no responsible person was available at site, only one labor was available at site.
• Thereafter, the industry was issued notice u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981 with opportunity of personal hearing before Chief Environmental Engineer, Jalandhar on 14.05.2024, wherein it was decided that:-.
1. The industry shall submit fresh Bank Guarantee of Rs.50, 000/- as an assurance not to emit black smoke & comply with the provisions Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 within 07-days.
2. The industry shall take necessary corrective measures for regular & efficient operation of APCD within 07-days.
3. The industry shall connect the CCTV cameras with the server of the Board within 07- days.
4. The industry shall apply for fresh consent to operate under Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981.
5. The Regional Office-1, Jalandhar shall verify the contention made by the industry, keep strict vigil on the operation of the industry regarding black smoke and shall submit report and recommendations, accordingly.
• Now, the industry has applied for fresh consent to operate under Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981 through OCMMS under orange category.
• The industry has already deposited Rs. 39800/-UTR No. 138478433 dated 18.01.2021 and Rs. 5800/- UTR no. 43441908 dated 16.08.2022 and Rs. 8700/- vide UTR No. 752041665 dated 14.06.2024 under Air Act, 1981 against the fixed assets of Rs. 28.94 lacs, which is adequate upto 30.09.2029.
• The industry has submitted fresh Bank Guarantee of Rs.50,000/- vide no. 15490ILG000324 as an assurance not to emit black smoke & comply with the provisions Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 valid upto 28.02.2025
• The industry was visited by officer of this office on 18.6.2024 and observed that the industry was not in operation during visit.
1. The industry has installed 2 No. bitumen heaters and 1 No. Aggregate Mixture cum dryer with wet scrubber as APCD alongwith adequate stack and same was not in operational condition. No responsible person was available at site, only one labor was available at site and he informed that the plant was not operation from last two months due to shortage of labor/imposition of Election code.
2. The industry has now installed CCTV cameras at site.
3. The industry has installed 1 No. DG set of capacity 125 KVA with canopy.
4. The code of practice prescribed by the board for hot mix plant and status of the code practice of the industry is as under:-
Code of practice prescribed by the Board for Hot Mix Plant Compliance made by the Hot Mix Plant
A suitable dust control system for the dryer and mixer to contain/recycle permissible lines in the mix should be provided. It should be capable of preventing the exhaust of line dust into atmosphere from both ends of the dryer
drum by creating adequate negative pressure. The hot mix plant has provided dust collector followed by wet scrubber system as APCD for the collection of fine dust generated from its process.
The plant should have centralized control panel/cabin capable of presetting controlling/synchronizing all operations, starting from feeding of cold aggregates to the discharges of the hot mix to ensure proper mixing. It should have adequate water scrubbing mechanism to completely remove/control the dust coming out the drier with proper provision of re-circulation system
for the scrubber water. The hot mix plant has installed centralized control cabin for control all the operations, starting from feeding of cold aggregates to the discharge of hot mix to ensure proper mixing. The hot mix plant has also installed water scrubber system as APCD with provision of re- circulation system for the scrubber water
Bitumen must be mixed with aggregate as soon as it is heated and second time lifting of
the dried aggregate for proper batching should be avoided. This point will be checked after commissioning of the HMP.
All roads/vehicular movement areas at the site of Hot Mix Plant should be pucca/stabilized with stone aggregates and regular sprinkling of the water be ensured so that no dust is
generated with vehicular movement. The hot mix plant has stabilized its internal roads with stone aggregates.
Hot Mix Plant must have proper stack heights for its scrubbed fire gases and bitumen heating system with proper platform and port holes as per the Punjab Pollution Control
Board norms. The hot mix plant has provided adequate stack heights with the bitumen heaters as well as rotary furnace of hot mix plant.
Fine dust arrested by water scrubber and collected in the re-circulation water tank should be collected and filled in a pit to be covered with fresh earth. This exercise should be repeated as and when dust is removed
from re-circulation tank. No fine dust was observed in the re-circulation water tank as the plant was not operational from last two months.
5. The industry is a small scale orange category unit and competency to decide such type of cases lies with Senior Environmental Engineer, Jalandhar.
Keeping in view of above, it is recommended that Consent to Operate under Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981 may be granted to the HMP upto 30.09.2029 with usual conditions and with special conditions that:-
1. The HMP shall operate its APCD properly and efficiently in future so that no complaint will be received from the locality.
2. The HMP shall maintain the backup record of the operation of CCTV cameras installed at site on monthly basis.
3. The HMP shall provide more plantation around its boundary during the coming rainy season. (Competency SEE)
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