The Adani Group’s ACC Ltd Cement Plant at Barmana in Himachal Pradesh is now complying with the prescribed atmosphere norms, a committee, which inspected the unit, has knowledgeable the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal. The identical committee had round three months in the past discovered a number of breaches in air pollution management measures as mandated by the Himachal Pradesh State Air pollution Management Board (HPSPCB).
The committee submitted in NGT that the cement unit “was discovered complying with ambient air high quality norms for PM₁₀, SOx, and NOx parameters” as prescribed within the Nationwide Ambient Air High quality Requirements (NAAQS) “at six places monitored between March 24 and 26, 2025”.
The committee, comprising Dr Narendra Sharma, Scientist ‘F’, Central Air pollution Management Board (CPCB); engineer Pawan Sharma, HPSPCB; and Bilaspur SDM Abhishek Kumar Garg, submitted the report earlier than the NGT on April 15.
The committee was initially constituted in response to a criticism lodged in September 2024 by Kashmir Singh of Khetad village close to Barmana. Throughout its preliminary inspection on January 18, the committee had recognized three main shortcomings on the plant: insufficient mud management measures, the absence of a three-layer tree plantation, and deficiencies within the put in truck-tyre washing methods. The findings had been submitted to the NGT in a report dated January 24.
As per the supplementary report, the committee noticed that Singh’s residence is the one dwelling positioned alongside a 500-metre stretch of highway utilized by each cement plant vans and the villagers. Whereas the cement unit had applied intermittent water sprinkling on this route utilizing tankers, the committee has now beneficial putting in everlasting sprinklers to manage mud generated by motion of vans.
In response to Singh’s request, the committee organized for the set up of an ambient air high quality sampler at his residence. Nonetheless, the situation didn’t absolutely meet CPCB pointers resulting from a number of technical constraints. However, the committee proceeded with the sampling train on the complainant’s insistence, whereas clearly documenting the non-compliance with commonplace monitoring protocols.
In a separate affidavit, the HPSPCB prayed earlier than the tribunal to dismiss the plea filed by Singh in gentle of the up to date compliance standing. “In view of the submissions made…it’s prayed that the petition might kindly be dismissed…every other order deemed match and acceptable could also be handed within the curiosity of justice,” the board said.
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The committee additionally confirmed that emissions from 5 main stacks—together with these connected to the cooler ESP, coal mill, and cement mills—had been inside permissible limits.
ACC Ltd reported that it had undertaken a sequence of air pollution management measures to deal with issues raised in earlier inspections. These embody set up of mist fog weapons and rain weapons throughout crucial places, together with across the boundary wall and inside roads, growth of a three-layer plantation close to the complainant’s poultry farm and the packing part, with ongoing efforts to inexperienced vacant areas throughout the premises, deployment of interconnected air pollution management methods to forestall mud emissions past the plant boundary, protection of clinker, ash, and cement silos with acceptable gadgets to reduce emissions.
Different measures undertaken included the usage of rain weapons on fly ash bulkers, exit routes to manage fugitive mud, set up of a 130-metre-long, nine-meter-high MS sheet barrier towards the complainant’s property, with additional extension underway, set up of two tyre-washing methods on the uncooked materials and truck exit gates, and an oil and grease separation unit, laying of interlock tiles on the truck exit gate and upgradation of the clinker loading station with sliding doorways, mist weapons, and protection of cement loading bays with GI sheets and clear curtains.
