Assessment of Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index of Kurichi Industrial Cluster, Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India - a Case Study

Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) is a rational number to characterize the quality of the environment at a given location following the algorithm of source, pathway, and receptor. As CEPI increases, there will be adverse effects on the receiving environment. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has brought out revised criteria for evaluation of CEPI by replacing the criteria issued in 2010. The revised criteria are issued to overcome the subjectivity factors of health impact studies on humans, flora and fauna. Kurichi Industrial Cluster in Coimbatore District is an engineering industrial estate housing foundries, forging units, metal finishing and fabrication units. In January 2010, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India declared Kurichi as critically polluted area and imposed moratorium on new projects and for expansion of the existing units. This declaration was made based on the CEPI score which was calculated as more than 70. Thereafter, the industries and the local stake holders have implemented various pollution control measures and hence the CEPI score has come down less than 70 and so the moratorium was lifted in October 2010. In this paper, the CEPI score is calculated based on the revised criteria and using the environmental quality monitoring data collected in April 2017. It is found that the CEPI score is below 70 which imply that the industrial units are operating and maintaining the pollution control measures consistently. However, taking a policy decision based on the CEPI score, one should be cautious on the adequacy of data and the parameters selected.