By Brij Khandelwal, IANS
Mathura : Once considered the chief pollution threat to the Taj Mahal, Indian Oil Corp’s Mathura Oil Refinery now presents a new profile as the cleanest and greenest crude oil processing unit in the country, winning several awards and a coveted certification by an international agency.
Not only the Taj Mahal and other Mughal monuments in the Taj Trapezium Zone, but also the nearby Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur are now safer as the refinery has installed state-of-the-art pollution abatement equipment to clean the air and various liquid effluents before release.
Talking to IANS, an official of the refinery said: “We have a full-fledged effluent treatment plant (ETP) consisting of physical, chemical and biological treatment facilities. This system not only removes hazardous pollutants but also converts them into environmentally acceptable forms.”
The success of the initiative can be seen in an ecological park with lush green cover, which has been developed in an area of 4.45 acres. Water bodies in the park are receiving water from the ETP. Thousands of birds including migratory ones visit this park every year between October and February.
The refinery management had engaged Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to assess the biological diversity in the park. During the survey, experts from BNHS identified 96 species of birds, including 30 species of migratory birds, indicating the richness of the ecosystem.
Another major initiative of the refinery to contain environmental pollution has been its sustained greening efforts not only in Mathura but also in Agra close to the Taj Mahal.
An official concerned with the tree plantation campaign told IANS: “The refinery has so far planted about 29,000 trees and shrubs in the refinery premises and more than 100,000 trees and shrubs in the surrounding area and township. We have taken an initiative to provide green cover to archaeological heritage sites, especially the Taj Mahal, by planting 115,000 trees in the Agra region including the Taj Reserve Forest.”
Responding to alarms raised by environmentalists, the refinery has set up four continuous ambient air monitoring stations (AAMS) beyond its operational area, at Farah, Keetham and Sikandra along the Grand Trunk Road towards Agra. An AAMS was also set up at Bharatpur.
In the field of environment protection, the refinery has now acquired many “firsts” to its credit. It is the first refinery in India to have started with two sulphur recovery units.
Besides this, various control measures have been taken over the years to reduce the emission of sulphur dioxide such as use of low sulphur liquid fuel, commissioning of APH (Air Pre Heater System) in various units to minimise fuel consumption and use of natural gas as fuel.
The refinery received the coveted ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system (EMS) in July 1996. It is the first refinery in Asia and the third in the world in the refining sector to achieve this distinction.