Karnal, July 17 -- Already in financial stress due to the West Asia crisis, trade disruptions, and increased freight and logistics costs, the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) has raised concerns over the Haryana State Pollution Control Board's (HSPCB) recent directive mandating the installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) and Pan Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) cameras. The HCCI has sought time until March 31, 2027 for industries in the National Capital Region (NCR) to comply with the requirement. On behalf of scores of rice millers, the body has also sought an extension of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)'s directions requiring the installation of stack emission monitoring facilities. The chamber has given memorandums to Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan and Vinay Pratap Singh, chairman, HSPCB. Rice millers and other industrialists said that the order could severely impact the industry and thousands of workers, if implemented immediately. Each rice mill employs between 100 and 1,000 workers in the state. They also demanded that industries which have already installed OCEMS/PTZ systems, connected them to the CPCB/HSPCB servers, and whose stack emission results are within the prescribed emission norms should not be required to undertake any change. Body's president Sushil Jain, who is also chief of the Haryana Rice Exporters Association, said that at a recent meeting in Karnal, the issues were discussed at length, where the millers also opposed the pollution board's directive. General secretary APS Chopra said, "Such upgradation involves capital expenditure, additional space, civil and structural modifications, where the estimated cost may range from approximately Rs.40 lakh to Rs.2 crore. Industries are already under severe financial stress due to West Asia crisis." Jain demanded that the government should provide at least 75% financial subsidy and grant a minimum additional compliance period of one year....