Diesel generator making proscribed in Agra region
VISHAL SHARMA
AGRA. Following the instructions of the Supreme Court to reduce acoustic and air pollution in Agra, the UP Pollution Control Board has banned the production & sales of diesel generators in Agra, raising alarm in the ailing foundry industry of Agra, which is chiefly dependent on the production of diesel generators and accessories.
The UP Pollution Control Board recently issued notices to the generator manufacturing units of Agra to immediately stop production of diesel generators, threatening to initiate prosecution proceedings under Pollution Control Act, which has infuriated the diesel engine manufacturers of Agra, who claim that they have stopped the production of diesel generators long back and were now only producing diesel engines for agricultural use.
The Board has even served notices to some Agra industrial units for purchasing diesel generators without implementing the mandatory pollution control measures like Multi-point fuel injection system and acoustic canopies.
Talking to Business Standard, Ashok Kumar Tiwari, Regional Officer, UP Pollution Control Board said that the Central Pollution Control Board has banned the production and operation of diesel engines and generators in Agra without ensuring that the air and noise pollution produced by these generators conformed to the revised pollution control norms.
But, he said, a large number of industrial units in Agra were still producing diesel generators without making the required technological improvements for pollution control, while claiming to be producing diesel engines for agricultural use only, hiding behind a flaw in the Pollution Control Act which only mentioned a ban on the production and use of diesel engines for Diesel Generating Set use, not mentioning anything about the production of diesel engines for agricultural use.
He said that the board was examining this legal flaw and finding a way to completely stop the production of these diesel engines, whether for DG set use or for agriculture as there was no way to differentiate between a diesel engine and a DG set which would be easily assembled by attaching an alternator to the engine.
According to Mr. Tiwari, the UP Pollution Control Board had also decided to serve notices to all those industrial units that were using diesel generating sets without fitting noise reduction canopies. He said that four such units, including three cold storages and one chain factory had already been served notices by the board and asked to immediately stop the use of such generators or face prosecution.
Reacting to the Board’s moves, Sanjeev Mittal, Managing Director, Atul Generators said that the Board had failed to differentiate between diesel engines and diesel generators in issuing these notices as the Agra units were only manufacturing diesel engines at present and that too, for agricultural use. He said that legally, the board could not ban production of diesel engines for agricultural use but still, it was threatening prosecution, which was not at all justified. He said that there were atleast 100 diesel engine producing industrial units functioning in Agra in both organized and unorganized sectors and all these units were facing similar threat of being phased out of the business by the strict pollution norms.
He said that since the implementation of Euro-II norms on 30th June, it had become necessary for the diesel generator manufacturers to fit noise pollution controlling canopies which considerably increased the cost of the generators produced in Agra compared to those produced in other states.
But, he added, even after fitting the canopies, the Agra units could not sell their DG sets as they also needed to fit Multi-Point Fuel Injection system according to the Euro-II norms and then get the engines re-approved from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which could take almost an year and till then, the Agra diesel generators would be completely off the Indian market, dooming this industry.
AGRA. Following the instructions of the Supreme Court to reduce acoustic and air pollution in Agra, the UP Pollution Control Board has banned the production & sales of diesel generators in Agra, raising alarm in the ailing foundry industry of Agra, which is chiefly dependent on the production of diesel generators and accessories.
The UP Pollution Control Board recently issued notices to the generator manufacturing units of Agra to immediately stop production of diesel generators, threatening to initiate prosecution proceedings under Pollution Control Act, which has infuriated the diesel engine manufacturers of Agra, who claim that they have stopped the production of diesel generators long back and were now only producing diesel engines for agricultural use.
The Board has even served notices to some Agra industrial units for purchasing diesel generators without implementing the mandatory pollution control measures like Multi-point fuel injection system and acoustic canopies.
Talking to Business Standard, Ashok Kumar Tiwari, Regional Officer, UP Pollution Control Board said that the Central Pollution Control Board has banned the production and operation of diesel engines and generators in Agra without ensuring that the air and noise pollution produced by these generators conformed to the revised pollution control norms.
But, he said, a large number of industrial units in Agra were still producing diesel generators without making the required technological improvements for pollution control, while claiming to be producing diesel engines for agricultural use only, hiding behind a flaw in the Pollution Control Act which only mentioned a ban on the production and use of diesel engines for Diesel Generating Set use, not mentioning anything about the production of diesel engines for agricultural use.
He said that the board was examining this legal flaw and finding a way to completely stop the production of these diesel engines, whether for DG set use or for agriculture as there was no way to differentiate between a diesel engine and a DG set which would be easily assembled by attaching an alternator to the engine.
According to Mr. Tiwari, the UP Pollution Control Board had also decided to serve notices to all those industrial units that were using diesel generating sets without fitting noise reduction canopies. He said that four such units, including three cold storages and one chain factory had already been served notices by the board and asked to immediately stop the use of such generators or face prosecution.
Reacting to the Board’s moves, Sanjeev Mittal, Managing Director, Atul Generators said that the Board had failed to differentiate between diesel engines and diesel generators in issuing these notices as the Agra units were only manufacturing diesel engines at present and that too, for agricultural use. He said that legally, the board could not ban production of diesel engines for agricultural use but still, it was threatening prosecution, which was not at all justified. He said that there were atleast 100 diesel engine producing industrial units functioning in Agra in both organized and unorganized sectors and all these units were facing similar threat of being phased out of the business by the strict pollution norms.
He said that since the implementation of Euro-II norms on 30th June, it had become necessary for the diesel generator manufacturers to fit noise pollution controlling canopies which considerably increased the cost of the generators produced in Agra compared to those produced in other states.
But, he added, even after fitting the canopies, the Agra units could not sell their DG sets as they also needed to fit Multi-Point Fuel Injection system according to the Euro-II norms and then get the engines re-approved from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which could take almost an year and till then, the Agra diesel generators would be completely off the Indian market, dooming this industry.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)
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