Already in financial stress due to the West Asia crisis, trade disruptions, and increased freight and logistics costs, the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) has raised concerns over the Haryana State Pollution Control Board’s (HSPCB) recent directive mandating the installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) and Pan Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) cameras.
Event Context
The HCCI has sought time until March 31, 2027 for industries in the National Capital Region (NCR) to comply with the requirement. On behalf of scores of rice millers, the body has also sought an extension of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s directions requiring the installation of stack emission monitoring facilities.
The chamber has given memorandums to Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan and Vinay Pratap Singh, chairman, HSPCB.
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Further, they requested that the requirement for an additional air pollution control device (APCD) adequacy assessment report also be withdrawn in such cases, since the actual emission performance and effectiveness of the APCD are already verifiable through online monitoring data available with the pollution boards.
Team Analysis
Body’s president Sushil Jain, who is also chief of the Haryana Rice Exporters Association, said that at a recent meeting of rice exporters in Karnal, the issues were discussed at length, where the millers also opposed the pollution board’s directive, making the installation of zig-zag or spiral staircases mandatory, warning of closure action for those who fail to comply.
He said that the body supports government measures to protect the environment, but the authorities should also safeguard the interests of the industries and workers.
General secretary APS Chopra said that such upgradation may involve installing fabric filters, cyclonic separators or other suitable APCDs, depending upon the process and technical requirements of the unit.
“Such upgradation involves capital expenditure, additional space, civil and structural modifications, where the estimated cost may range from approximately ₹40 lakh to ₹2 crore. Industries are already under severe financial stress due to the impact of the West Asia crisis, trade disruption, increased freight, logistics costs and higher operational expenses. At the same time, industries have been receiving continuous directions and revised compliance requirements from the pollution boards without adequate meaningful financial support,” he said.
Jain demanded that in cases where APCD upgradation is technically unavoidable, the government should kindly provide at least 75% financial subsidy and grant a minimum additional compliance period of one year.
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Rice millers and other industrialists said that the order could severely impact the industry and thousands of workers, if implemented immediately. Each rice mill employs between 100 and 1,000 workers in the state.
They also demanded that industries which have already installed OCEMS/PTZ systems, connected them to the CPCB/HSPCB servers, and whose stack emission results are within the prescribed emission norms should not be required to undertake any change.
