New Delhi/Patna: In its charter on the treatment of waste water and other pollution control measures in hotels, restaurants and banquet halls, the Bihar State Pollution Control Board has advertised the name of a Ghaziabad-based company for the implementation of such projects.The move to promote a single vendor for largescale works has attracted criticism from pollution control experts and political parties alike against the department, which falls under the purview of the Bihar deputy chief minister and environment minister Sushil Modi, with many alleging that such publicity leaves greater scope for corruption.Furthermore, even the quotations provided by the company, Hyper Filteration Pvt. Ltd., which has offices in the Sahibabad Industrial Area in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, have been linked in the charter. The company has therein provided two quotations of nearly Rs 40.55 lakh and Rs 30.45 lakh each for installing plants of 100 and 50 lakh litres capacity per day respectively.The charter has been published by the BSPCB on its website under the head “Charter for Pollution Control in Hotels”. The board expanded on the need for the charter via a letter by secretary member Alok Kumar on July 27, 2020.Hotels, restaurants, banquet halls ordered to comply with pollution control normsThe letter stated that hotels had been categorised as red, orange and green by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change of the government of India based on their size and the amount of wastewater generation. Further, the letter stated that “industries, including hotels, restaurants and banquet halls are bound to comply with provisions or mandate of pollution control acts”.It also noted that hotels are required to install Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to comply with discharge standards and would also have to adopt air pollution control measures for the maintenance of ambient air quality.Also read: How a Viral Video Tore Apart Bihar Govt’s Claims on Efficiently Handling COVID-19In light of this, the letter noted that Bihar State PCB has “prepared a charter on waste water treatment and other pollution control measures in hotels, restaurants and banquet halls” and asked all concerned stakeholders to submit their “suggestions” or “inputs” within a week.What the charter statesThe “Charter for Waste Water Treatment & Other Pollution Control Measures in Hotels, Restaurants & Banquet Halls” explains the rationale behind the move.It noted that under “statutory compliances for prevention and control of pollution” the Central Pollution Control Board and BSPCB are “mandated for maintaining wholesomeness of water resources/ bodies” and that “industries, including hotels/hospitality industries, restaurants & banquet halls are bound to comply with the provisions/ mandates of pollution control acts and related regulations.”It also stated that “hotels have to install sewage treatment system along with oil & grease skimming facility to comply with the sewage discharge standards” and records that at present the “hotels/ hospitality industries have not developed [a] proper facility for treatment and disposal of their waste water and consequently are discharging untreated waste water into the municipal drain which ultimately pollutes [the] environment.”The contentious sectionThe part in the charter which has been met with scepticism about the Nitish Kumar government’s intent behind issuing the charter concerns the section the quotations provided by just one vendor – Hyper Filteration Pvt. Limited.These quotations provide “offer for Sewage Treatment Plant with Fully Automatic MBR technology to produce Ultra Filtered water suitable for Horticulture & Flushing” under 100 KL capacity per day and 50 KL capacity per day respectively. According to experts, the 100 KL plant is usually installed by hotels having 50 rooms. For this, the company stated that the “price for complete electro mechanic work is Rs 40.55 lakh”. For the smaller 50 KL capacity STP, it said the “price for complete electro mechanic work is Rs 30.45 lakh”.Also read: As Bihar Elections Near, Could PM CARES Funds Be Used to Circumvent Model Code of Conduct?Opposition alleges government trying to favour one companyA senior leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal Shivanand Tiwari told The Wire that “uploading quotation of a single company means the government is indirectly telling hotels to establish plants from that company only.”“The government is trying to give an undue benefit to that company. But, this is not the first time. A few years ago, the government had asked for clearance certificates on mobile towers. There too it had suggested one company’s name. We had at that time opposed that move too,” he said.Expert slam government moveMeanwhile, senior Supreme Court advocate, Rahul Kumar, who has been handling pollution-related matters pertaining to the CPCB in addition to various state pollution control boards, said that the promotion of a private company in this way by a state board was not correct and the only explanation could be “consideration (quid pro quo)”. He added that “this act is brazen and open and apparently carried out with impunity.”Overall, Kumar said, “Bihar is far too late as far as implementation of environmental legislation is concerned. Yet when the Bihar Pollution Control Board decided to implement provisions of Water Act, it promoted a private STP vendor through its charter.”“The modus in such cases is simple – the company which is backed by the state board will get the job for the installation of STP and in return will ensure that not only is the STP approved by the board but that the concerned hotel will also get a consent order from the state board,” Kumar said and added that in such cases, “profits are then shared by both promoter and the promotee, i.e. concerned officer of the state board and private vendor respectively.”BSPCB chief says quotation was for reference onlyThe state government has defended the move and claimed that the quotation was for reference only.Speaking to The Wire, BSPCB chairman, Ashok Ghosh said, “We had a meeting with hotel owners where they had asked for a tentative idea about the price. For this, we had sent letters to around 8-10 companies for a quotation. But, only one company responded and that is why we uploaded its quotation. If we had more quotations then we would have uploaded them too.”Also Read: Lalit Modi Is A Small Symptom Of The Continuing Malaise Of Crony CapitalismHe insisted that “there is no question of giving undue benefit to any particular company. We have mentioned that the quotation is for reference only. Hotel authorities are free to choose any company. We are not saying that they have to buy from this particular company only”.When asked if hotels have started installing STPs, Ghosh said: “After 10 days we will have a meeting where we will analyse these things and take further decisions accordingly.”