Jamshedpur, Oct. 11: The Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) has sent a proposal to the state government and the state industries department to set up separate industrial estates in all the districts to reduce pollution.

Board officials said constitution of a separate zone for industrial activities would help check the rising pollution level in the residential areas.

According to JSPCB sources, the decision to send the proposal was taken at a recent board meeting. The main agenda of the meeting was ?the measures required to achieve sustainable development in the mineral-rich Jharkhand?. In due course of the deliberations JSPCB chairman Balmukund Nath Sahdev proposed setting up of industrial units by creating separate industrial estates in each of the districts.The JSPCB chairman has written to the chief minister and the state industries department to set up industrial units in all the 22 districts.

Sahdev said the stringent pollution norms forced the board to adopt the measure. ?The government should set up separate industrial estate in the line of industrial estates in Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Bokaro, to make way for industrial development,? said Sahdev.

Sahdev said in undivided Bihar the total forest cover of Bihar was just 17 percent.

?The pollution control norms were not so tough at that time. As the state had abundant land for setting up industrial units, the Bihar State Pollution Control Board did not feel it necessary to take such step. But Jharkhand, though a smaller state, has a huge forestland,? said Sahdev.

?After foramtion of the new state, the area of forest cover grew to 29 per cent. Besides, the rich mineral resources of Jharkhand are attracting more and more industrial houses,? said the JSPCB chairman.

According to Sahdev, there is good prospect for industrial development in the state due to the presence of minerals and ores.

However, said Sahdev, once the industrial estates are set up in all the districts, the entrepreneurs need not waste time waiting for no-objection certificates and ?Consent to Operate? from the JSPCB while setting up their units.

?The rules and regulations of the pollution control board will not hamper the industrial units anymore. The proposed setting up of separate industrial estates in the districts will reduce the eternal conflict between industrial growth and environment,? he added.