The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025 on 24.07.2025 for identification and management of contaminated sites in the country. The process of identification, determination and remediation of contaminated sites has been defined under the said Rules.

Under the Rules, a contaminated site has been defined as an area or a site affected with contaminants and declared as a contaminated site by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) / Pollution Control Committee (PCC), if the contaminant is found to be above the prescribed threshold levels after completion of the detailed site assessment.

The local body or District Administration, on its own or on receipt of a complaint from public, has been mandated to identify an area affected with contaminants taking into account the information as prescribed in the Rules and list all such areas as suspected contaminated sites in its jurisdiction on centralised online portal.

On receipt of the list of suspected contaminated sites, SPCB/ PCC, on its own or through a reference organisation, has been mandated to undertake the preliminary site assessment of the suspected contaminated site by sampling and analysis of the suspected contaminated site, within ninety days from the date of receipt of the list. SPCB/ PCC may list the suspected contaminated site as probable contaminated site of the contaminant is found to be above the prescribed screening levels.

Further, SPCB/ PCC, on its own or through a reference organisation, has been mandated to undertake a detailed site assessment of a probable contaminated site by detailed sampling and analysis, covering the entire geographical area of the probable contaminated site, within three months from the date of listing of such site. SPCB/ PCC, after completion of the detailed site assessment, may list the site as contaminated site if the contaminant is found to be above the prescribed response levels.

SPCB/PCC has been mandated to publish the list of contaminated sites on the centralised online portal inviting comments and suggestions from the stakeholders likely to be affected, within sixty days of such publication.

Upon receipt of the comments and suggestions from the stakeholders, SPCB/ PCC has been mandated to publish the final list of contaminated sites on the centralised online portal and publish a notice in this regard in two local newspaper having circulation in the area for the information of the general public and also indicating the precaution to be taken in this regard.

The responsible person has been mandated to prepare a remediation plan within six months from the date of directions by the SPCB/ PCC, initiate the remediation after approval of the remediation plan by the SPCB/PCC, and submit the progress reports periodically to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and concerned SPCB/PCC.

In case of orphan contaminated sites and sites under temporary possession of banks or judicial proceedings, SPCB/ PCC has been given the responsibility to prepare the remediation plan and conduct the remediation activities. The expenditure for remediation activities in this regard is to be met by the Central and State Government in the ratio and manner prescribed in the Rules.

CPCB has identified 103 contaminated sites across the country, out of which remediation activities have been initiated at 07 sites. The details of the 07 contaminated sites have been given below:

1. Mercury contaminated sites at Ganjam, Odisha
2. Chromium contaminated sites at Rania, Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh
3. Groundwater contamination at Lohia Nagar &Industrial area, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh due to untreated industrial effluents by several industries
4. Mercury contaminated soil at the premises of M/s Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu
5. BPCL oil contaminated site at Tondairpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
6. Groundwater contamination in & around the premises of M/s Godavari Bio-Refineries, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
7. Groundwater contamination at Effluent Channel Project (ECP), Vadodara, Gujarat

This information was provided by UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT,

FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE, SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH, in a written reply

to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****

GS/SK

(Lok Sabha US Q3941)

(Release ID: 2157518)