The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has warned that it will take action on marriage halls, hotels, restaurants, motels and banquet spaces if they are found flouting norms.
In a public notice issued by its chairman A.V. Venkatachalam, the board said action would include stopping the non-compliant activities, initiating prosecution and recovering compensation under Polluter Pays principle. “We are already creating an inventory of these categories. We only want to complete that process. We wrote to various associations some time ago and many are complying,” he said.
The notice is based on a July 2020 order by the National Green Tribunal directing State pollution control boards to ensure that such categories do not pollute and conform to environment norms.
‘Not under control of TNPCB’
However, representatives of standalone restaurants and marriage halls said they do not pollute the environment in any manner and that they do not come under the control of the TNPCB. The issue has been under discussion for quite sometime.
M. Ravi of the Chennai Hotels’ Association said standalone restaurants would not be covered under these rules. “We use LPG and therefore do not cause smoke. As far as water usage is concerned, we only use it for cooking, serving food and cleaning vessels, food items and hand washing. The discharged water does not contain any hazardous material,” he said.
M. Kempraj, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Kalyana Mandapam Owners’ Association, said many were already complying to the norms. “In some districts, halls were sealed but after they took consent to operate, the seals were removed,” he said. However, halls were only conducting public functions and do not come under TNPCB norms, he added.
