GCM's partner organization in India, SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM), welcomes The Central Pollution Control Board's decision to temporarily restrict new industrial projects in Cuddalore.  The announcement, which targets industry in the country's worst polluted areas, is a result of continued pressure from environmental groups and ongoing environmental monitoring by local activists.

The ban will limit development in industrial clusters that score higher than 70 on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index.  Cuddalore is just one of the many areas affect by the eight month ban on new development, which is meant to give government authorities time to devise a longer term action plan for cleaning up the air.

While praising the ban, SACEM will continue to demand that the community must be involved in all future action plans for environmental remediation.  Calling SIPCOT a "critically polluted region," the leaders of SACEM have vowed to fight for continued local involvement.

Equipped with buckets and log sheets, the SIPCOT area residents won't stop until their air is clean.

For more information:

The Hindu (1/15/2010) Ban on new units in highly polluted areas

Tehelka (12/18/04) Villagers go on pollution control

Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a report: Comprehensive Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters