The deadline set by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) for the rubber and meat processing units in the Eloor-Edayar industrial area to set up systems to control emissions ended on July 31.
The agency had asked nearly 20 such units to comply with its directions after a study by the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, had found indiscriminate levels of odour and volatile organic compounds emanating from the erring industries.
Officials at the Environment Surveillance Centre were expected to start inspecting the units to check whether they had set up biofilter units to check foul smell from the units. However, the inspections did not take place as they were expecting a nod from the board’s headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. The inspections were expected to start this week itself, they said.
An interim report submitted by the agency last year had revealed that the odour threshold level was beyond the limit at all the sampling points in the units. The unchecked emissions had caused health problems among local residents. The erring units were mostly involved in rubber, meat and waste processing activities.
The report said the odour threshold had gone up to 2,50,00,000 OU (odour units) per cubic metre, while the permissible limit for odour in air around an industrial area is 7 OU and 2 OU in residential areas. The average concentration of total volatile organic compounds was beyond the limit in a majority of the sampling points.
