Dhanbad, June 13: After a free-run allowed for decades, hard coke units in the coalfields have finally been ordered to shut shop, if they fail to take pollution-control measures. Jharkhand Pollution Control Board (JPCB) claims to have ordered the closure of 16 units and served showcause notices to more than three dozen units, which have disregarded the directives of the board. Eleven sawmills, too, have been served notices, said JPCB sources.

The board?s recent burst of activity comes in the wake of orders delivered by the Supreme Court and the Jharkhand high court calling for the closure of polluting units. The belated closure notices also followed the declaration of the Union ministry of environment and forests which branded Dhanbad and Jharia as among the most polluted cities of India.

According to industry sources, however, the closure notices have been served only on those units which have failed to obtain NOC (No Objection Certificates) from the board. There are a large number of units which have obtained the certificates, these sources confessed, but still continued with their unrestricted polluting activities.

JPCB sources, however, claimed that an expert team inspected the units last month and advised them to comply with pollution-control norms or shut shop.

The coal-belt is said to have 184 hard coke units and refractories. They were set a deadline of May 31 to instal water and air treatment plants. But less than 50 units are said to have complied, while more than 121 units have not even bothered to acknowledge receipt of the notice though 23 units have sought more time to put up anti-pollution equipment.

Silicosis, said senior engineer S.K. Singh of the pollution control board, is the commonest occupational disease in the coal-belt and damages the liver, kidney, heart and lungs. Coal, iron and glass industries besides sawmills enhance the risk of exposure and hence all these industrial activities need to take pollution-control measures.

Forest department, meanwhile, has confirmed that 16 sawmills too have been asked to shut down.