Govt seeks to make factory owners pay for ETPs

new delhi: the delhi government has decided to issue an ordinance to pressure factory owners to pay their share of the money to install common effluent treatment plants in industrial areas. as of now, the city government does not have the power to demand the payment. under the delhi pollution act the government can only disconnect the power and water connections of defaulting factory owners.and this is precisely what the government has been doing. despite this a large number of factory onwers have not paid their instalments. according to the supreme court guidelines no polluting unit is allowed to operate in the capital. even other industrial units are supposed to install etps so that no effluent is discharged into the yamuna directly. in view of the apex court''s orders the delhi government had decided to install 15 etps in different industrial area like naraina, okhla, wazirpur, shahdara and mayapuri. work on nine of these etps has already started and is likely to be completed by early next year. these etps were to be installed on a cost-sharing basis where the delhi government was to pay 50 per cent of the cost while the rest was to be shared by the factory owners. sources said the proposal to issue an ordinance was in the pipeline for the last few months and it was discussed by the delhi cabinet on monday. however, the final date for the ordinance is yet to be finalised. ``the government wants to give some more time to the factory owners before taking this harsh measure,'''' a delhi minister said. the city government has already closed more than 350 polluting industrial units which failed to install the etps. the city government has been facing severe criticism for failing to have a comprehensive industrial policy which led to the closure of industrial units. senior officials in the environment department said if the factory owners failed to pay their share, the government will be forced to close their units. ``we are only following the instructions of the supreme court. the government will not hesitate to close the industrial units if they fail to comply with the court''s orders,''''an officials added. the basic reason to work out a cost sharing formula for installing the etps was the government does not have sufficient funds for the project. as of now the government has already issued a warning to the factory owners to clear their instalments or face disconnection of water and power supply. the city government will soon send a formal proposal to the lt-governor requesting him to issue an ordinance to this effect.