Already under immense pressure from the fall in domestic production and export of the handloom and textile industries, Panipat Dyeing units, considered to be the mother of the textile industry, have been facing headwinds due to recent directions served by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) regarding strengthening of industrial emission control measures across the National Capital Region (NCR) to curb air pollution.
As per CAQM directions dated February 21, the industries must reduce the emission standard to 50 mg/Nm³. The directions have raised alarm among operators within struggling industries, especially dyeing units in NCR. The handloom and textile products manufactured in Panipat are exported all across the globe. The Panipat textile industry has an annual turnover of Rs 60,000 crore, of which around Rs 20,000 crore turnover comes from its export business alone. Handloom and power-loom products, including bath mats, floor covers, rugs, carpets, bedsheets, towels, curtains, sofa clothes, cushions, blankets, mattresses and puffs, are extensively exported from Panipat. Due to drop in exports and shortage arising from tensions in West Asia, the industry has already taken a massive blow. The pollution control directions have stoked the flames of the fire facing the industry.
As many as 500 dyeing units are operational in Sector 29 (Part-II), a designated sector for such units, while around 250 units are operational in the outskirts of the ‘Handloom City’ area. As many as 150 dyeing units are operational in the Barhi Industrial zone. Moreover, more than 100 illegal dyeing units are also operational in the district. Such units are not only releasing their effluent openly into Drain Number 2, which flows into the Yamuna, but also violating other pollution norms.
Members of the Panipat Dyers’ Association had submitted memorandums to the Chief Minister of Haryana and Cabinet Minister Mahipal Dhanda regarding their concerns. Notably, the CAQM, considering the recommendations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) based on studies conducted by IIT Kanpur, as well as the Technical Committee constituted by CPCB, is of the view that a particulate matter (PM) emission standard of 50 mg/Nm³ was technically achievable and environmentally necessary.
The revised standard is expected to significantly reduce industrial emissions and contribute to the abatement of air pollution in the region, leading to benefits for people living in the vicinity of industrial sources and overall improvement in regional air quality, said sources.
According to the directions, the maximum permissible limit of PM emissions from 17 categories of highly polluting industries; red category (medium and large) air-polluting industries; food and food processing units; textile industries running boilers/thermic fluid heaters; and metal industries with furnaces operating in Delhi-NCR shall be 50 mg/Nm³.
Identifying and categorising such units, the CPCB has fixed a deadline to reduce the emissions of particulate matter from large and medium industries by August 1, 2026, while remaining industries must follow suit by October 1.
The CAQM has also directed the members of the state pollution control boards (SCBs) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to ensure effective implementations of the directions. However, the directions have become a subject of tensions among the dyeing unit owners in Panipat.
An official of the Panipat Dyers’ Association said that according to a recent report of the CAQM, the industry was only responsible for 8 per cent of the total pollution, while the major causes were traffic and dust emissions on roads. “Panipat dyers are not against the environment. We have planted around 22,000 trees in the area to save the environment over the past few years,” he added.
The official also said the CPCB had directed units to install bag filters to curb emissions and flow meters at effluent treatment plants (ETPs) in the dyeing units, while there was already a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) in Sector 29, Part II. “Illegal dyeing units are a major concern for legal dyeing unit owners like us as they flow their untreated effluent into the drain and pollute water bodies. The action, however, is initiated upon the legal dyeing units,” he added.
Nitin Arora, president, Panipat Dyers’ Association, said industrialists were committed to control pollution but teams of the CPCB and CAQM had begun continuously raiding dyeing units. “Closure notices have been served to several units while power connections of some units have also been disconnected. Due to which the industry is in fear,” he added.
Nitin further said that the industry was forced to bear financial losses due to the constant changing of environmental rules. “Petroleum coke was banned earlier and we had to switch to imported coal from Indonesia. After that, the generators kits were changed and use of bio fuel was made mandatory. The installation of wet scrubbers in chimneys of boilers was also made mandatory for the Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) and recently officials were directed to install bag filters to replace the wet scrubbers, said Arora, adding that due to all these changes, the industry had been forced to bear financial losses, which was not viable for the small-scale industries of Panipat.
“Earlier, the limit of suspended particulate matter (SPM) emissions used to be 800 mg/Nm³. It was then reduced to 250, and then to 80. Now, the CAQM has fixed the limit to 50 mg/Nm³, which is almost impossible to achieve for our industry,” claimed Arora.
